Kari Lake, a top ally of Donald Trump who is running for a Senate seat in Arizona, called on her supporters Sunday to arm themselves before an “intense” period leading up to the election, urging them to “strap on a Glock,” referring to a brand of firearm.
“The next six months is going to be intense,” Lake said during 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.”
The crowd roared its approval, and she continued, “You can put one here,” gesturing to the side of her hip, “and one in the back or one in the front. Whatever you guys decide. Because we’re not going to be the victims of crime. We’re not going to have our Second Amendment taken away. We’re certainly not going to have our First Amendment taken away by these tyrants.”
When asked about Lake’s remarks Tuesday, Alex Nicoll, a representative of the campaign, said that “Kari Lake is clearly talking about the Second Amendment right for Arizonans to defend themselves.”
It is not the first time Lake has alluded to armed conflict with her and her supporters. Last year, she said: “If you want to get to President Trump, you are going to have go through me, and you are going to have to go through 75 million Americans just like me. And I’m going to tell you, most of us are card-carrying members of the NRA,” referring to the National Rifle Association. She added, “That’s not a threat — that’s a public service announcement.”
Her voice is just one in a rising chorus of violent, authoritarian or otherwise aggressive political rhetoric from Trump and his allies. The former president shared a video late last month featuring an image of President Joe Biden, his Democratic rival, hogtied. He has also said that migrants are “poisoning the blood of our country” and described his political opponents last year as “vermin” who needed to be “rooted out.”
And Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., on Monday urged people whose routes were blocked by pro-Palestinian demonstrators to “take matters into your own hands” and confront the offenders, endorsing the use of physical force against peaceful protesters.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.