ICYMI: When QAnon fundraises for Kari Lake … she shows up [Politico] – Arizona Democratic Party

ARIZONA – A new report from Politico reveals that Kari Lake is “headlining a campaign fundraiser on Friday hosted by two wealthy QAnon supporters,” underscoring her continued associations with conspiracy theorists as she “[burnishes] her credentials with the far right even as GOP leaders have hoped she would focus her campaign on issues more likely to resonate with the broader public in Arizona.”

Tomorrow, Kari Lake will be attending a fundraiser with Caryn and Michael Borland, who previously had their fundraiser for former Vice President Mike Pence canceled after reports revealed their QAnon times. The Borlands join Lake’s roster of conspiracy theorist associates that includes Alfie Oakes, Jenna Ryan, and Joshua Feurenstein. 

Politico: When QAnon fundraises for Kari Lake … she shows up

By Daniel Lippman

January 31st, 2024

Key Points:

• Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake is headlining a campaign fundraiser on Friday hosted by two wealthy QAnon supporters, according to an invitation obtained by POLITICO.

• Caryn and Michael Borland, who have shared numerous QAnon posts on their social media platforms, are holding the fundraiser for the likely GOP nominee at their mansion in Prescott, Arizona…… 

• The couple last caught public attention when a fundraiser they were going to host in Montana for former Vice President Mike Pence was canceled after the Associated Press reported on their QAnon ties… 

• During her gubernatorial run, she had dinner with reputed top QAnon figure Ron Watkins and noted in July that she received a huge response when she appeared on the QAnon-linked internet show “X22 Report.” In recent years, Lake has embraced other false narratives, including saying that she took hydroxychloroquine to avoid getting Covid-19 and also raising doubts about whether Covid-19 vaccines worked.

• QAnon is a sprawling conspiracy theory whose followers believe Trump secretly battled a cabal of Satan-worshiping child sex traffickers who worked in the “deep state…”A representative of the Lake campaign declined to comment. Michael Borland hung up on POLITICO when reached by phone while Caryn Borland didn’t respond to a request for comment.

• After it was reported in 2020 that the Borlands had taken part in spreading QAnon material on Twitter and Facebook, the two reportedly made their Twitter accounts private and Michael Borland deleted QAnon content off of his Facebook page, which had earlier included a number of QAnon logos, its oath and its famous slogan, “Where We Go One, We Go All….”

• The couple have also maxed out to Lake’s campaign, each donating a total of $6,600 to Lake, according to new FEC records.

• Lake has been a supporter of Trump’s third presidential bid. She campaigned for him in Iowa ahead of the caucuses. Some have even floated her name as a possible VP choice for Trump.

• In 2019, the FBI’s Phoenix field office labeled QAnon a domestic terrorism threat, saying in an intelligence bulletin that conspiracy theories like QAnon are “occasionally driving both groups and individual extremists to carry out criminal or violent acts.”

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