U.S. Senator Mark Kelly (D-AZ) will become the senior Senator from Arizona in January 2025, when Democrat-turned-Independent Senator Kyrsten Sinema leaves the Senate.
Note: U.S. Representative Ruben Gallego, a Democrat, is running for Sinema’s seat against the Trump-endorsed Republican candidate Kari Lake, who continues to contest her loss in the 2022 gubernatorial race against Democrat Governor Katie Hobbs.
During a recent interview with Senator Kelly on NBC News, Kristen Welker mentioned that Lake told her supporters to strap on a Glock to prepare themselves for an intense election, striking a similar tone as the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, former President Donald Trump, who has said whether there’s violence around the election “depends on the fairness.”
Q: Kari Lake told supporters to strap on a Glock to prepare for the election and Trump told TIME that whether there’s violence around the election ‘depends on the fairness.’ What’s your reaction?
Sen. @CaptMarkKelly: It’s dangerous and could result in people getting killed pic.twitter.com/eWiXoPXxgI
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) May 6, 2024
Kelly, who has experienced political violence firsthand — his wife, Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, survived an assassination attempt at an outdoor constituent meeting in 2011, which left six people dead — said the language used by Trump and Lake is “dangerous.” The Senator added: “What Kari Lake said could result in people getting hurt or killed.”
Kelly added, “Kari Lake’s never been elected to anything, and I don’t expect her to ever be elected to anything, but when you’re a candidate for the United States Senate, you need to be careful with your words.”