The Swamp: Kari Lake in Angry Confrontation with Democrat at D.C. Elite Hang-Out

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Washington just isn’t working out the way Kari Lake had planned—professionally or socially. The infamous bathroom-brawling election denier—and two-time loser for Arizona statewide office—thought she had landed the perfect gig in MAGAland.

A former local news anchor, Lake was tapped by Trump in December to lead the Voice of America. At the time, she claimed she had no intention of turning it into a propaganda machine for the president. “I’m not there to make it Trump TV and MAGA TV. That’s not what this is about,” she told CBS News in an interview at the time. “That’s not what Voice of America is.”

Lake, who lost both her 2022 Arizona gubernatorial race and 2024 Senate race, had won the perfect consolation prize: her own bullhorn. The possibilities were endless.

The VOA gig also provided Lake a fresh start in the nation’s capital, a chance to rehabilitate her rabble-rousing reputation. (She has confronted her Senate Democratic rival, Sen. Ruben Gallego, outside an airport men’s room; screamed in Bulwark journalist Tim Miller’s face, calling him a “piece of s--t;” and falsely accused the GOP Maricopa County, Arizona, recorder of “intentionally sabotaging the election” after she lost the governor’s race.)

But now VOA isn’t anything. At all. Trump eviscerated the nation’s largest international broadcaster over the weekend, firing almost all employees and contractors, who were literally locked out of the building. Lake seemingly has nothing and no one to oversee.

And to make matters worse, she seems to have been blackballed from Washington’s toniest new private club, Ned’s.

Lake has landed in hot water with members of the exclusive dining and meeting spot, whose clientele skews left but plays nice with the MAGAverse. Its owner, after all, is longtime Clintonista moneyman Ron Burkle.

But partisan tensions have risen to a steady Defcon 2, as Trump and Elon Musk demolish democracy, day by day, agency by agency, brick by brick. So what of the unsavory behavior on a recent evening at the club, which—gasp!—involved a certain phallic gesture? Well, we hear it has rendered the new Face of the Voice(less) of America persona non grata at Ned’s. (Initiation, around $5,000, plus the same each year for membership.)

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The Swamp sources say there was a tense exchange at Ned’s between Lake and a companion who appeared to be her aide and someone else at the club who was thought to be a Democrat.

Lake’s associate then let it fly: the middle finger. It was an awe-and-cringe moment that club insiders say violated decorum. To be fair to Lake and her bird-flipping associate, Ned’s rules don’t specify that giving anyone else the middle finger is forbidden.

But these things are bound to happen when MAGA mingles with lefty socialists…er, socialites. Worth noting: Ned’s also doesn’t allow firearms, another reason why Lake might not be the best guest to sneak in where she’s not wanted. She told her supporters last year ahead of Election Day they’d better “strap on a Glock.”

When contacted by The Swamp about the incident, Ms. Lake responded, “I do not have an aide.” Ned’s Club has been contacted for comment.

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