Kari Lake tells supporters 'maybe strap on a Glock' to prepare for upcoming elections

U.S. Senate candidate Kari Lake urged her supporters on Sunday to “maybe strap on a Glock” ahead of an election she predicted will be “intense.”

“The next six months is going to be intense,” Lake said at a rally in Lake Havasu City. “We’re going to strap on our seatbelt. We’re going to put on our helmet, or your Kari Lake ball cap. We are going to put on the armor of God. And maybe strap on a Glock on the side of us just in case.”

NBC News recorded the comments on video.

Her gun imagery mixed with combat rhetoric quickly caught the eye of national media watching the race and happened in a state where many still recall the 2011 massacre near Tucson that killed six people and wounded 13 others, including then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz.

She went on to suggest she would carry multiple firearms to avert crime before implying her political opponents were taking away freedoms of speech and gun rights.

Opinion: An ever more desperate Kari Lake urges Arizona supporters to 'strap on a Glock'

“We’re not going to be the victims of crime. We’re not going to have our Second Amendment taken away,” Lake said. “We’re certainly not going to have our First Amendment taken away by these tyrants.”

Alex Nicoll, a Lake campaign spokesman, said Lake’s words should not be misconstrued.

“Kari Lake is clearly talking about the Second Amendment right for Arizonans to defend themselves,” he said in a statement.

Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., an Iraq War veteran who is also running for the seat being vacated by the retiring Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., said Lake’s words cannot be justified.

“As someone who served his country and had to use his weapon to defend his fellow Marines, I find Kari Lake’s threats of armed violence abhorrent and un-American,” he said in a written statement. “This is exactly who Kari is — dangerous and willing to do or say anything to get power, even if it could hurt Arizonans.”

Lake’s comments happened on the eve of former President Donald Trump’s trial on criminal charges in New York stemming from payments made during his 2016 campaign to Stormy Daniels, who is known for her roles in pornographic videos and who has said she had sexual relations with Trump.

Trump’s historic trial has led New York authorities to gird for the risk of violence.

Since the Jan. 6, 2021, riot by a pro-Trump mob at the U.S. Capitol, the specter of politically inspired violence has loomed especially large in a deeply divided country.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Kari Lake tells supporters 'maybe strap on a Glock' ahead of elections