Kari Lake Blasts TV Anchor Interrupted by 'Illegal Immigrants' at Border

Former Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has criticized an Arizona news anchor following his encounter with migrants entering the U.S. during a news report.

Lake, who is continuing to mount a legal challenge to her defeat in the 2022 governor's race, retweeted a video on Friday from Arizona's 12 News showing anchor Mark Curtis reporting from a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border.

That video comes amid growing concern about the situation at the southern border following the expiration of Title 42 on Thursday - a Trump-era policy that allowed U.S. officials to expel migrants without going through a formal asylum process in order to prevent the spread of diseases.

"@12News Anchor Mark Curtis ran into a group of illegal immigrants breaking into our country while doing his reporting last night," Lake tweeted to her 1.1 million followers. "He had no questions for them. Hopefully, our news will start covering our border crisis now that it's literally staring at them in the face."

In the 29-second video, Curtis was reporting in front of a border fence and noted a "huge gap that migrants are using to walk into the U.S." As Curtis continued his report, discussing people smugglers and cartels, three men approached from behind the fence.

At least one of the men said "Hello," and appeared to raise his hand in greeting, with Curtis responding: "Hello."

Newsweek has reached out to News 12 via email for comment.

Lake's comments come at a time when the Biden administration is facing significant pressure and criticism over its handling of the situation at the border following the expiration of Title 42.

Republican Representative Lauren Boebert tweeted on Friday that President Joe Biden and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas were "causing death" after an unaccompanied 17-year-old Honduran migrant died in U.S. custody in Florida this week.

Newsweek has reached out to the White House via email for comment in response to Boebert's remarks.

The White House on Friday strongly criticized a federal judge after he blocked a new policy that would allow for some migrants to enter the U.S. without vetting given that they appear at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement within 60 days, with White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre calling the Trump appointee's decision "sabotage."

Separately, Lake is continuing her lawsuit challenging the results of the 2022 gubernatorial election in Arizona, where she was defeated by Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs by more than 17,000 votes.

Her case is scheduled to be heard at 9 a.m. local time on Wednesday, May 17, in Maricopa County. Most of her lawsuit was previously dismissed but Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson is now tasked with deciding whether to hold a trial to decide if the county followed the rules on ballot signature verification.

At a pre-trial hearing on Friday, Lake's attorney Kurt Olsen alleged before the court that county officials had known that 260 of Maricopa's 446 vote counting machines would fail. Judge Thompson will determine how to address that claim but Lake is likely to appeal any unfavorable decision.