Former President Bill Clinton called Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake “physically attractive” while stumping for Vice President Kamala Harris during a stop in battleground Arizona.
Mr. Clinton’s comment came as he was contrasting Democratic Rep. Ruben Gallego and Ms. Lake, who are running to replace retiring independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema in the Grand Canyon State.
“You got a person that grew up under sometimes challenging circumstances, who made something of his life running against someone who is physically attractive, but believes that politics is a performance art, and where, like J.D. Vance, she has to be prost[r]ate before the master,” Mr. Clinton said.
During a speech at former President Donald Trump’s rally in Tempe, Arizona, on Thursday, Ms. Lake said she woke up to the news that Mr. Clinton had given her a compliment.
“First of all, you know what, as a middle-aged woman, I’m flattered, I’m flattered,” Ms. Lake said. “I don’t get those kinds of compliments every day. Two, I thought I was a little too old for him. Doesn’t he like interns?”
Back at the campaign event for Ms. Harris, Mr. Clinton also spoke of a “sliver” of voters in the state who need to make up their minds on who to support.
With 10 days left before Election Day, Mr. Trump leads Ms. Harris by 1.5 points in Arizona, according to polling aggregate Real Clear Polling. Mr. Biden won the state by just over 10,000 votes in 2020.
Democrats are outperforming her in the Senate race, however, where Mr. Gallego leads Ms. Lake by an average of just over 6.1 points.
“To them, Kamala Harris just showed up,” Mr. Clinton said. “I mean, she was there as vice president, and what they think of her largely depends on what they think of President Biden, but she is extremely vulnerable, more vulnerable than she deserves to be through crazy attacks.”
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
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