Elections

Kari Lake and Ruben Gallego Have Mid-Flight Debate on Border Issues

MILE HIGH BOUT

It’s unclear if Kari Lake, who was sitting in first class, made the trek back to coach to confront Senate candidate Ruben Gallego face-to-face—as he suggested.

Side-by-side photos of Kari Lake and Ruben Gallego.
Reuters

Despite the fact that Arizona’s upcoming Senate race has just begun, its front-running candidates are already sparring. On Thursday, that fight went airborne, with the Republican Kari Lake and Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) duking it out while on the same flight from Washington to Phoenix. Gallego was the first to notice the coincidence, replying to a tweet by Lake that criticized him for being anti-border wall. “Hey @KariLake we’re on the same plane! Just come back from first class to coach and we can chat,” Gallego wrote. “Happy to walk you through all my legislative work to deliver key resources to AZ’s border communities.” Linking to a news story about Gallego owning a house near Capitol Hill, Lake shot back: “Feel free to say hi, Ruben. I can help with your homesickness. I know it’s got to be difficult for you to leave your full-time residence in DC and visit the people you pretend to represent.” Sources told The New York Times that the beef continued once they landed, where Lake “ambushed” Gallego with questions, while recording.

Read it at The New York Times