Kari Lake had a turbulent run-in with MSNBC “Morning Joe” co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski at a Florida airport, during which an aide to the husband-and-wife cable news duo allegedly called the former Arizona GOP gubernatorial candidate a “liar” and “election denier.”
Lake, an avid supporter of former President Donald Trump who has yet to concede her own narrow defeat for governor last fall, bumped into the left-leaning MSNBC power couple at a terminal in Palm Beach International Airport on Wednesday, according to an amateur video of the encounter.
After exchanging pleasantries, the conversation turned icy when Brzezinski whipped out her phone and started recording their chat, Lake said.
“I said, ‘Are you recording me?’” Lake told former Trump adviser Steve Bannon as she recounted the incident during his “War Room” podcast Thursday.
Lake claimed that Scarborough told his wife, “Don’t do that.”
“He was a little bit perturbed that she was recording,” Lake told Bannon.
The encounter took another dark turn when a “handler” who was accompanying Scarborough and Brzezinski is said to have told the former newscaster-turned-politician, “You’re a liar. You’re an election denier. You’re delusional.”
Lake, who lost to Democrat Katie Hobbs by less than 1% of the vote, said she replied: “I’ve never lied once about elections. I’m speaking the truth about elections.”
Lake has claimed the election was fraudulent due to faulty ballot printers and that she was the real winner. Hobbs succeeded Doug Ducey, a Republican who was limited to two terms.
In February, an Arizona appeals court rejected Lake’s request to throw out the election results.
“I’m in this because I’m a mom concerned about my children’s future,” Lake told Bannon. “That’s why I got into politics.”
Lake said she initially wanted to introduce herself to the MSNBC talking heads because they “spend an awful lot of time badmouthing me” on their show.
“I happened to be at the airport and … I was leaving and I happened to see Joe Scarborough,” Lake told Bannon.
She approached the former GOP congressman from Florida and the two shook hands.
“He was heading into the restroom and I said, ‘Hey, Joe!’” Lake recalled. “And he was nice. He said ‘Hey!’”
Brzezinski seemed less pleased about bumping into Lake.
She was “not very pleasant,” Lake said.
That didn’t deter Lake from giving the opinionated pair a piece of her own mind.
“You guys like to bash 24/7, and that’s okay. But I just wanted to introduce myself,” Lake said in recalling the conversation.
“I just wanted to, you know, put the human being behind the face that you guys kind of go after.”
According to Lake, Scarborough denied “badmouthing” her.
The MSNBC co-host is said to have told Lake that he considers her “one of the great talents in all of politics.”
“He was actually pretty nice but Mika was not the most pleasant person,” Lake told Bannon.
Lake was less civil after their encounter.
“They constantly lie & disparage me on National TV,” she tweeted. “I wonder if they’d be brave enough to have me on their show?”
The Post has sought comment from MSNBC.
[Written in collaboration with other media outlets with information from the following sources]
