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Kari Lake, the onetime favorite Arizona firebrand of Donald Trump, is slowly losing his approval, five people close to the former president told the Washington Post. According to the sources, Trump is beginning to doubt that Lake, a failed gubernatorial candidate and current U.S. Senate hopeful, can win her race against Democrat Ruben Gallego this November. He fears her failure may be contagious, dragging him down in the polls in what he believes is a key state to win the presidency. Though Lake is a Trump loyalist who has repeatedly spewed his stolen election lies, she’s lost the support of many center-right and moderate Republicans and keeps flipping stances on important issues like abortion. Her flailing approval in Arizona has only steepened her fall from Trump’s good graces; the former president reportedly cut her from his shortlist of potential VP picks because “she didn’t win” the Arizona governor’s race in 2022. He’s also gotten fed up with her constant presence at Mar-a-Lago. At one point last year, the Post reported, he suggested she leave the golf course and instead spend her time campaigning—far away from him.
