Trump told Masters he’d likely lose to Lake in Arizona: report

Former President Trump warned Blake Masters that he is likely to lose an Arizona Senate primary to Kari Lake in 2024, The New York Times reported Friday.

The Times report claims Trump called Masters on Sunday to make the blunt prediction, in what would be a move inconsistent with his 2024 strategy so far of generally staying out of down-ballot Republican races.

Masters lost a 2022 Senate race to Sen. Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Lake lost the same year’s gubernatorial election to Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-Ariz.). Neither have announced their intent to challenge Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Ariz.) in 2024, though they have both been considering campaigns.

Sinema’s seat is expected to be one of the closest races in 2024, with the Democrat-turned-Independent facing challenges from Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) and an expected Republican candidate. She has not announced whether she will seek reelection.

Some Democrats have even encouraged Sinema to run, after polling showed that a three-way race between the senator, Gallego and Lake would end with Gallego winning. Another poll found that Sinema took more votes away from the Republican candidate than from Gallego.

Both Masters and Lake embraced the 2020 election denial rhetoric which has landed Trump in legal trouble in recent months. Lake notably refused to concede the 2022 gubernatorial race, and considered herself to be the rightful winner of that election months after Hobbs took office.

Masters did step back from those claims slightly, and was criticized by Trump for doing so. In a senate debate, Masters did admit that Biden rightfully won the 2020 election. Trump called Masters shortly after.

“If you want to get across the line, you’ve got to go stronger on that one thing,” Trump told Masters in the call, which was captured by Fox News cameras.

“Look at Kari — Kari’s winning with very little money,” Trump said, referring to Lake, then the gubernatorial nominee. “And if they say, ‘How is your family?’ She says, ‘The election was rigged and stolen.’ You’ll lose if you go soft. You’re going to lose that base.”

Trump’s strategy shift away from endorsing candidates comes after few of his endorsed candidates won in 2022. Significant endorsements in Arizona — both Masters and Lake — and in critical Senate races in Pennsylvania and Georgia fell short.

Some Republicans have even encouraged Trump to stay out of the 2024 races, citing the previous election’s failures.