One of Arizona’s most famous drag queens has taken off her gloves to attack longtime former friend and MAGA fanatic gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake for her balding hypocrisy about drag shows.
Lake’s campaign angrily tweeted Friday that “they kicked God out of schools and welcomed drag queens. They took down our flag and put a rainbow in its place.”
But Lake has attended “countless” drag shows and private events featuring Richard Stevens, who has performed as the sassy Barbara Seville for 25 years, The Arizona Republic reported Friday. Stevens has shared text messages from Lake, and shared photos and social media posts of Stevens and his links to the drag show.
Stevens told the newspaper that she even once performed as Marilyn Monroe in front of Lake’s daughter, when she was 9 or 10 years old.
“She has chosen a side in the culture war, but her actions in the past do not support it,” Stevens told Republic in an article published Saturday.
“Of course my feelings got hurt. It just proves that he is a hypocrite. …he has thrown my friendship away to get votes from people who hate gays or hate drag queens,” Stevens said.
In a 2014 Instagram message — discovered by Brahms Resnick, a reporter for NBC affiliate KPNX in Phoenix — Lake writes: “Half of what I learned about makeup I learned from watching friends like Barbara Seville.”
Lake’s campaign told KPNX on Saturday that “Richard’s allegations are full of lies”.,
Candidate spokesman Ross Trumbull told Republic that Lake’s daughter attended the baby shower, where Stevens “appeared as a Marilyn Monroe impersonator.”
“It wasn’t a drag show, and the issue we’re talking about isn’t even adults participating in drag shows,” the campaign told KPNX. “The issue is that activists are sexually abusing children and this has to stop.”
A campaign statement also stated: “Not once did [Lake’s] Daughter went to drag shows. But since she’s over 18, if she wants to do that, it’s entirely up to her.”
The campaign did not explicitly state whether Lake and Stevens, who were referred to by their first names, were friends, or whether Lake participated in drag shows.
Others have accused Lake, formerly a Democrat, of eroding his right-wing credentials and outrage by riding the extremist train to victory over Arizona Republican Governor Doug Ducey. She is also exposing the lie that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump as part of her campaign.
When pressed, Lake could only prove she had been a member of the National Rifle Association since last year, according to Republic. She had also once proposed an amnesty scheme for lakhs of migrants, but now wants to drive them out of the state.
