Adam Schiff calls Kari Lake a threat to democracy

Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff called Arizona Republican Kari Lake perhaps the nation’s biggest election challenger, and if elected to the U.S. Senate, she would help former President Donald Trump “tear down” the fences of American democracy.

As part of the statewide race, Schiff, who is also running for the U.S. Senate in California, called on Arizonans to reject Lake, who he sees as a threat to democracy itself. Much of his criticism focused on Lake’s baseless insistence fraud caused her to lose the governorship in 2022.

“It’s hard to find, other than the former president himself, a more prominent election opponent than Kari Lake,” Schiff said Friday in an interview with The Arizona Republic.

“In this day and age, the willingness to accept the results of an election would be a pretty good test of whether someone will keep their oath, whether they are committed to our constitutional system of government or not. … She does not want to do this. She made it clear.”

Lake is running against House Rep. Ruben Gallego, R-Ariz., for the seat currently held by retiring Sen. Kirsten Sinema, R-Ariz. Her campaign was not immediately available to respond to Schiff’s criticism.

Since presiding over former President Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial in 2020, Schiff has become one of the most prominent voices in his party admonishing Trump and his closest allies.

In 2021, he wrote “Midnight in Washington: How We Almost Lost Our Democracy and Still Can” on the subject.

In 2023, after the Republicans took control of the US House of RepresentativesThe GOP has hit back at what it says are unfairly panicking about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign and Trump’s behavior in general.

First, Schiff was eliminated from the House Intelligence Committee. The House later formally censured him for “claiming evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.”

Many now expect Schiff to defeat former Los Angeles Dodgers great Steve Harvey, a Republican, for the Senate seat in safely Democratic California.

As he hopes to join the Senate, Schiff is not backing down on his assessment of Trump or those who will help him in his second term.

“One of the reasons Donald Trump has been able to break so many rules and tear down so many of our democratic fences is because he’s had so many people in the House and Senate willing to help him,” he said. “The last thing we need is more people in the Senate who will ignore their constitutional requirements because they support the leader of their party and not anything else.”

In a grim assessment, Schiff said that American democracy after January 6, 2021 Riot in the US Capitol and after a Resolution of the Supreme Court Giving presidents limited immunity from criminal prosecution is “more fragile than ever.”

Schiff praised Gallego for showing leadership on the House floor helping people put on gas masks during riots and a willingness to fight for America as a Marine in the Iraq War.

“Reuben is extremely well-respected in the House as a thoughtful, serious voice on national security, defense and immigration issues,” Schiff said. issues like the border, and he will provide an incredibly valuable voice.”

Schiff and Gallego worked together on some issues in Congress. Perhaps most notably, they signed a 2022 Letter of Appeal to the US Department of Justice “work with states to limit unnecessary access to election systems and ballots, and work with election officials to strategically deploy DOJ monitors.”

The effort came after the Democratic-controlled Senate failed to overcome a filibuster and pass a voting rights law aimed at overriding new restrictions passed in Republican-controlled states.

With Trump vying for the White House with Vice President Kamala Harris, Schiff is trying to help Democrats across the country increase their numbers ahead of elections that could see the House, Senate and presidency reshuffled.

Schiff has already traveled to New Mexico to help Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., and is planning similar stops for Sen. Jackie Rosen, D-Nev.; Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.; and Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.

He has raised more than $8 million on behalf of Democrats across the country, including Harris and his House colleagues in California, according to his campaign.

Gallego has already received the support of one of California’s US senators. Two weeks ago, Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., helped cook Mexican food with Gallego at an event in Phoenix aimed at boosting Hispanic turnout in favor of Gallego.