Forget Ron DeSantis. Losing Arizona Candidate Kari Lake Is Trump’s True Heir (as Her Party’s Most Giant Baby).

Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate, former local news anchor, and “stolen election” conspiracy obsessive Kari Lake was preeeettttty confident heading into Election Day.

In late October she posted a facetious letter “thanking” Republican representative and non–election denier Liz Cheney for making an “in-kind contribution” to her campaign by appearing in an ad urging Arizona voters not to support Lake. Last Tuesday she told members of the press she planned to be their “worst frickin’ nightmare” for “8 years,” i.e., two terms in office. And in the home stretch before Election Day, she held campaign events with every white nationalist she could get her hands on. (See MSNBC’s Vaughn Hillyard’s list of them here.)

Last December, Lake said that “McCain Republicans”—i.e., supporters of the late senator, who won his final election in the state by 13 points—should “get the hell out” of one of her events. Not someone who believes the political science theories about the marginal importance of appearing “moderate” in contested races! Or even in the, uh, theory that you should try to get your own party’s voters to vote for you!

But then Lake lost her race to mild-mannered Democrat Katie Hobbs, even as less stridently pro-MAGA Republicans won three close House races in the state. The race was called Monday night; the Washington Post reported Monday afternoon* that an entire team of adults was on scene beforehand to calm Lake down, as if she were a tiny, crying toddler refusing to put on a pair of socks:

Lawyers, political operatives and other people around the Republican nominee worked over the weekend from a “war room” inside a Scottsdale resort to prepare her for what they expect to be a stinging loss to Democrat Katie Hobbs, according to people familiar with the discussions, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share private details.

Apparently they gently reminded this person that it would be best not to destroy the United States, even if her feelings got hurt:

People around Lake have told her it would not be in her best interest to claim the election was stolen. They have also warned of possible harm to Arizona, and the country more broadly, if the state became home to a resurgent “Stop the Steal” movement.

“At the same time,” the Post reported, Lake “may go in a different direction.” LOL, that she did:

This tweet has, thus far, constituted the entirety of the Lake campaign’s response to having been projected as the loser of her race. No socks! I hate socks!