Republican Kari Lake twists opponent’s border security record with deceptive ad

A new ad from Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake misrepresents Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego’s stance on border security. It also deceptively edits remarks Gallego made in a 2018 interview. 

Lake and Gallego are competing for Arizona’s open U.S. Senate seat. A CNN poll from August showed Gallego leading Lake 47% to 44%.

The ad, titled “100% Wrong,” is part of a $10 million ad buy by Lake’s campaign. It features clips of Gallego and Vice President Kamala Harris allegedly voicing their opposition to building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. 

This premise, however, is not accurate. Earlier this year, Gallego backed a bipartisan border security bill that included $650 million for border wall construction and maintenance. It also proposed increased protections for asylum seekers. The law was endorsed by the U.S. Border patrol.

Republican lawmakers killed the bill, reportedly because former President Donald Trump feared it would be politically advantageous to Democrats. Lake opposed the legislation as well.

In the ad, Gallego says, “We’re not going to support a border wall that’s not needed.” 

This clip is from a CNN interview Gallego gave in December 2018. At the time, former President Donald Trump had forced a federal government shutdown to protest a bipartisan congressional budget that did not include new funds for a border wall. Lake’s ad removes this context and parts of Gallego’s statement.

Gallego actually said the following: “Our end game has always been to be the responsible party and keep the government open. That’s why we actually struck a deal with the Republicans … Now, what we’re not going to do is support an irresponsible use of money for a border wall that is not needed, specifically because the President has not truly used the money we already allocated in the last funding.”

Harris has vowed to revive the bipartisan border security bill if she’s elected to the presidency this November.

A Lake spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment for this story.