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Former Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake has praised Sound of Freedom after watching the new movie at a screening hosted by former President Donald Trump.
Lake shared her thoughts about the film on Twitter and Facebook following the screening at Trump's golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, where she and her husband were among the former president's guests.
Starring Jim Caviezel and based on the life of former Homeland Security agent Tim Ballard, Sound of Freedom has been praised by conservative figures but has also received a host of negative reviews from critics.
Caviezel and Ballard were both present at the Bedminster screening.
The film has been accused of appealing to supporters of the QAnon conspiracy theory that posits that Trump would expose a secret cabal of high-profile satanic child abusers as president, and then order their arrest and executions.
"Sound of Freedom is an incredibly impactful film," Lake said on her Facebook page. "It demonstrates the importance of the fight against sex trafficking worldwide."
"My husband Jeff & I are so thankful for the opportunity to join President Trump for a screening of @soundoffreedommovie tonight," she said.
Lake also shared a photo of she and her husband watching the movie.
Newsweek has reached out to Angel Studios, the network behind the film, for comment via email.
Lake is a close ally of Trump and has echoed his false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. She has also claimed that she is the rightful winner of Arizona's 2022 gubernatorial race.
She was defeated by Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs by more than 17,000 votes but challenged the outcome of the election in the courts, alleging irregularities in how the election had been conducted.
In May, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Peter Thompson rejected Lake's final lawsuit on the matter.
Nonetheless, Lake has become a high profile figure in the Republican Party and there's speculation that she may run for the U.S. Senate in 2024—when Senator Kyrsten Sinema, a former Democrat and now independent, will be up for re-election.
"I may run for Senate, I'm considering that," Lake said earlier this month. "It's something I may have to do because we can't have people who don't care about Arizonans representing us in Washington, D.C.
"Got a lot of options on the table. I'm taking a look at all of them, and I'll be making some decisions here in the coming months."
Lake's comments echoed remarks about Sound of Freedom made by Trump following Wednesday's screening.
"Thank you all so much, that was incredible," Trump said, adding, "Jim, that was unbelievable."
"It's something that I'm not sure if you're supposed to enjoy or learn, it's a combination, but that was a great movie," Trump added. "Now I understand why it's doing so well."
"It's setting records by the way, it's eating the biggest movies out there, they have some of the big summer blockbusters and this is knocking the socks off of them," he said. "So that's pretty good."
"I hope everybody had a fantastic time, I did, it's an incredible inspiration," Trump added. "You guys do something very special."
Sound of Freedom is approaching revenues of $100 million at the box office.
About the writer
Darragh Roche is a U.S. News Reporter based in Limerick, Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. politics. He has ... Read more