Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Karrin Taylor Robson accused her Trump-backed opponent Kari Lake of going back and forth between parties while she has supported conservative policies and candidates her entire life.
Robson told the Todd Starnes Show the momentum is with her campaign heading into the August 2 GOP primary.
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Listen to the full conversation below:
The following is a rush transcript from the Todd Starnes Show which airs daily from noon to 3:00 p.m. E.T.
TODD STARNES: [01:17:50] I want to go to the Patriot Mobile Newsmaker Line. Good to have back with us, Karrin Taylor Robson. Karen, good to have you with us today. [01:17:56][6.8]
KARRIN TAYLOR ROBSON: [01:17:57] Well, Todd, thank you for having me. [01:17:59][1.6]
STARNES: [01:18:00] So, look, I think it’s interesting that the polling data is sort of all over the place. But I’m curious to to hear your thoughts on how things are going boots on the ground in Arizona. [01:18:09][9.1]
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ROBSON: [01:18:10] Well, I can tell you the momentum is ours. Just in the last few weeks, things have really, really started to shift in our direction. All of the public polls show us in a statistical tie, which is pretty remarkable since I started the year at zero and I was up against a 27 year media personality who was at 43 points. Our own internal polls have me actually ahead. And you know, momentum is everything in the political game and just out on the trail, we feel it, we see it. We’re racking up endorsements all over the place from leading conservative voices around this country. And I couldn’t be more proud of the people that are supporting me, and I couldn’t be more excited and optimistic about our victory on August 2nd. [01:18:59][48.5]
STARNES: [01:18:59] Karrin, after we had you on for the first time and we’ve had Kari Lake on a number of times as well, we try to be fair and balanced and get both candidates on this program, and we do that with other races around the country. But I got a lot of hate mail from people who claim to be Trump supporters there in Arizona, and they say that you’re not a Trump supporter. And I’m looking at your history and your background and your bio. And I’m wondering, how can they possibly make those claims when, in fact, you have a long history of supporting President Trump? How are you dealing with those kinds of questions out on the campaign trail? [01:19:32][33.1]
ROBSON: [01:19:33] Well, at the end of the day, the truth always comes out. And I am really running against the purveyor of fake news for, you know, she was there for 27 years and by her own admission, she was lying to us for a long time. So it’s no surprise. It’s a lie to the voters of Arizona. But you’re right. I have a lifetime track record of supporting Republican candidates and conservative causes and have donated and raised millions of dollars to back that up. And as it relates to President Trump, we supported him in 2016. We supported him in 2020. In fact, we wrote checks and raised over $1,000,000 for Donald Trump. And I will defend his record all day long. What he was able to accomplish, not in four years. You know, the last year was kind of stolen from him, but in three years rivals any president in our history. And so, you know, I had half of his kids at my house that fundraisers. My daughter works for him at the White House. We were there for him in 2016 and we were there for him in 2020. And it’s, you know, pretty rich folks. My opponent, Kari Lake, you know, who declared Joe Biden the winner on election night. And she didn’t get involved in anything related to Trump until after he was defeated. But, you know, the voters of Arizona are really smart and they’re coming to that conclusion on their own. [01:20:55][81.9]
STARNES: [01:20:56] And that’s the concern I would have. I happen to be a registered Republican, and it concerns me when people jump into races and announce, oh, guess what, I’m going to be a conservative now, that really doesn’t wash with me. I want to see somebody’s track record. I want to be able to see their votes if they’ve been elected and there’s a voting record. And if there’s not a voting record, I just want to see, okay, where is the fruit of that person out there claiming to be a conservative? [01:21:23][26.9]
ROBSON: [01:21:24] Right. Right. And like I said, I have, you know, from efforts to, you know, restore civics education in our schools, not just in Arizona, but across the country. I led that effort, you know, so I put my money where my mouth is. And like I said, I have worked for Republican candidates my whole life and people in Arizona who know me and have worked with me in the private sector for 30 years, they all know I’m a conservative, but they also know that I’m respectful of others. I listen to people. We come together to solve complex problems. And the more the people of Arizona get to see Kari Lake, that is not in her DNA. That is not in her personality. She has had quite a, I would call it, a fluid political adventure throughout her life, being a Republican and a Democrat and an independent and a Republican. You know, you just don’t know what carry which Kari Lake is going to show up. I have been consistent throughout my life and I truly believe that’s why the polls are showing the trends as they are, that, you know, they will continue for the next two weeks, I believe, and we will be victorious. But you do need to look at some of these track records. And I tell people often the ones you won’t see on my resume is, you know, reading the teleprompter, my teleprompter is in my head and in my heart. And I’ve spent 30 years in the private sector dealing with issues that matter to Arizona, from water to transportation to education to security issues. In fact, that’s why the National Border Patrol council endorsed me earlier this week. They know of my track record. They know of my commitment to security. They know that I understand and appreciate and it made my priority the safety and security of the people of Arizona. And they have added their name to a growing list of other law enforcement agencies around the country and around the state in supporting my candidacy. [01:23:18][114.1]
STARNES: [01:23:19] Karrin, I want to get you to respond to this crazy attack ad from the Democrat Party there. They were thanking you for donating to Democrats. I mean, at face value, they’re terrified that you’re going to get the nomination because they know you’re going to win. And that’s why they put this out. But can you explain that to folks? Did you donate to Democrats? [01:23:39][20.2]
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ROBSON: [01:23:40] You know, I’ve been a land use lawyer in the real estate development business for my professional career. And at the local level, they’re nonpartisan races. And I have donated to members of city councils and mayors around the state. And you know that didn’t run as a Republican or a Democrat, but may have been a Democrat. In fact, if anybody wanted to take a closer look, they would see in several instances, multiple instances where you might have somebody who is a registered Democrat, but they’re running against a true leftist and absolutely, I will I’ll defend those donations all day long. And, you know, I’m representing clients all over, I was before I put my career on hold. [01:24:21][40.4]
STARNES: [01:24:21] But Karrin, I mean, look. No, no, you did. Exactly, I mean, Donald Trump, you know, back when he was in business in New York City, he would donate to Republicans, Democrats, everybody was just part of the game as a businessman and then the real estate business. [01:24:33][11.6]
ROBSON: [01:24:34] That’s right. But I think the fact that the Democrat Party is coming after me is indicative of the fact that they are afraid of me winning the primary. And, you know, the Democrat Governors Association have had their people in Arizona for months now, just going through my record in the cities I’ve worked in, in the boards I’ve served on, just to try anything and find anything and everything they can. They would much, much rather run against Kari Lake because she’s going to have a hard time prevailing in a general election. And so their focus is on me right now. [01:25:08][34.0]
STARNES: [01:25:09] Karen, real quick, before we let you go, there have been lots of reports of the border surge, border invasion, more than 13,000 migrant crossings over in Texas and the Del Rio sector in just a seven day period. I know that’s a big issue for you folks in Arizona. And there had been calls for Governor Ducey to declare an invasion. If you are elected governor, would you do that? Would you declare an invasion that has happened in Arizona? [01:25:36][27.2]
ROBSON: [01:25:38] Well, what I’ve said for a long time, there is an invasion, whatever you want to call it. If you go down to the border, you will see that we are being invaded. In fact, in Yuma, the Yuma sector alone, there are now more illegal crossings in Yuma than there are in Del Rio, Texas, although Texas gets far more media coverage. But, you know, when you use invasion as a legal term of art. There are two very different competing legal theories about, you know, whether or not under Article one, Section nine of the Constitution can be invoked. And so I think we have an opportunity with President Trump’s 234 judicial appointments to, you know, make sure we can resolve that legal issue. But as a practical matter, we are being invaded and Arizona is on the front lines of what is a 50 state border war. I no longer call it a crisis. It is a 50 state border war because governors across this country are having to deal with the impacts of the disastrous Biden-Harris administration and their disastrous border policies. You know, it’s costing Arizona billions of dollars. And beyond the economic cost, the human tragedy that’s unfolding across this country as a result of these open border policies, you know, between human smuggling and sex trafficking and the fentanyl, the rise in fentanyl overdoses, it is a tragedy and we’re going to be paying the price for generations. [01:27:03][85.0]
STARNES: [01:27:04] Karrin, I really appreciate you coming on the program. You answered the tough questions and I think it makes sense when people hear the explanations. They’re like, yeah, that makes a lot of sense. You know what you’re saying, so I wish you the very best out there on the campaign trail. Good luck on Election Day. [01:27:17][13.7]
ROBSON: [01:27:18] Thank you. Thank you for having me. [01:27:20][1.5]