Lake, an uber-conservative election denier, was defeated by Democrat Katie Hobbs on Monday, per the Associated Press. She had long sparred publicly with McCain, a political analyst–television personality and the daughter of former Arizona Senator John McCain, who died in 2018.
Meghan McCain tweeted early Tuesday morning to revel in Lake’s defeat.
“Beautiful morning to all of you,” she said in the tweet, which included a National Review article headlined “McCain Republicans Vote, Too.”
Video taken from a recent Lake campaign event showed the candidate urging any attendees who considered themselves “McCain Republicans” to “get the hell out.” She also referred to the late Arizona senator as a “loser,” echoing the rhetoric of former President Donald Trump, who was himself a McCain foe.
On Monday night, Lake seemed to struggle to come to grips with her reported loss.
“Arizonans know BS when they see it,” she wrote in a tweet.
To that, Hulk actor Mark Ruffalo simply replied: “Nailed it.”
Community star Yvette Nicole Brown also responded to Lake.
“.@karilake They sure do. That’s why you lost, girl,” Brown tweeted. “Ask @SarahPalinUSA how being a chick like you ultimately plays out politically. Cliffs Notes Version: Poorly. Anyhoo…thank you, #Arizona! And CONGRATS #Governor @katiehobbs!”
Other anti-Trump Republicans also applauded the news, such as outgoing U.S. Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming.
Lake previously trolled Cheney after the latter rolled out an ad urging Arizonans to vote Democrat. The Republican gubernatorial nominee thanked Cheney in an October 28 letter posted to Twitter, which claimed that the commercial had led to a spike in campaign donations.
Some two weeks later, Cheney responded in kind.
“You’re welcome, @KariLake,” the congresswoman replied in a tweet on Monday.
Star Wars legend Mark Hamill also weighed in on a potential future job for Lake, who once worked as a local TV news anchor.
“Arizona has a new Governor,” Hamill tweeted on Monday night. “FOX ‘News’ has a new talking head.”
Newsweek reached out to representatives for Lake and McCain for comment.
Updated 11/15/2022, 12:24 p.m. ET: This story was updated with additional information and background.
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