‘Why Not Debate Your Opponent?’: Don Lemon Calls Out Katie Hobbs For Ducking Debates

‘Why Not Debate Your Opponent?’: Don Lemon Calls Out Katie Hobbs For Ducking Debates

Harold Hutchison on November 2, 2022

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include comment from a Kari Lake campaign spokesperson. 

CNN host Don Lemon questioned Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, who is running for governor, Wednesday morning about her refusal to debate Republican gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake.

“Why not debate your opponent? If you believe your opponent … has issues in spreading conspiracy theories about a stolen election and so on and is not being truthful with the people of Arizona, why, then, not get on the debate stage?” Don Lemon asked Hobbs.

“You know, not only is Kari Lake — has she centered her entire platform around this election denialism, I didn’t want to give her a bigger stage to do that,” Hobbs responded. “But additionally, she has shown that she’s not interested in having any kind of substantive conversation. She’s only interested in creating a spectacle.”

Lake took a lead in polls released in recent weeks, including an 11% lead in a Fox10/InsiderAdvantage poll released Oct. 26, an OH Predictive Insights poll released Monday showed Lake with a 2% lead. Pollster Matt Towery told Fox10 that Hobbs’ refusal to debate Lake could be a reason the former television anchor surged ahead.

“Our campaign strategy is our campaign strategy,” Hobbs told Lemon.

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Lake’s website features lengthy discussions of her positions on the border, homelessness, the economy and education. The website also had shorter discussions on water issues, the Second Amendment, rural Arizona and election integrity.

“Secretary Hobbs remains willing and eager to participate in a town hall style event, such as the forum she participated in last week in which Arizonans were able to hear directly from Sec. Hobbs about her in-depth policy plans and how she would approach governing this state,” Nicole DeMont, campaign manager for Hobbs, said in a Sept. 11 statement. “Unfortunately, debating a conspiracy theorist like Kari Lake – whose entire campaign platform is to cause enormous chaos and make Arizona the subject of national ridicule – would only lead to constant interruptions, pointless distractions, and childish name-calling.”

Lake, who received former President Donald Trump’s endorsement, narrowly won the Republican primary in August. She labeled the 2020 election “corrupt” and said President Joe Biden “shouldn’t be in the White House” during a June Republican debate.

“It’s rich to hear Katie Hobbs claim on CNN that Kari Lake only talks to fake news outlets, given that Kari Lake has talked to CNN (is Hobbs calling CNN fake news?) as well as CBS, ABC, Fox News, multiple broadcast networks in Arizona, and in fact takes questions from dozens of reporters from dozens of outlets almost on a daily basis,” a Lake campaign spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation in a statement. “Kari Lake has run one of the most press accessible campaigns in history while Katie Hobbs refuses to debate, runs from reporters, and hides in her basement.”