FLASHBACK: That Time New MAGA Darling Kari Lake Conducted a Convivial White House Interview With Obama

Kari Lake is favored to secure the Republican nomination for Arizona governor in Tuesday’s primary. But some of her new conservative fans who have hopped on the bandwagon to support her after receiving the enthusiastic endorsement former President Donald Trump might not realize that she once donated to former President Barack Obama.

Moreover, back in 2016, Lake visited the White House and conducted a cordial interview with former President Obama. The topic was Merrick Garland — who had just been nominated to the Supreme Court. Obama was trying to get Arizona’s two senators on board for Garland’s confirmation — Jeff Flake and John McCain. And as part of that effort, he invited Lake — then an anchor for Fox 10 Phoenix — to the White House to talk about the judge’s credentials.

“A lot of Arizonans, believe it or not, support the Senate Republicans,” Lake told Obama. “They say they should hold off on [confirming Garland], and it’s a smart thing to do. How do you convince them otherwise?”

“What I’d say to the people of Arizona is our democracy only works when people play by the rules, where everybody’s fair,” Obama said. “My job is to nominate somebody, that’s what the Constitution says, when there’s a Supreme Court vacancy. The Senate’s job, according to the Constitution, is to provide advice and consent. Which means providing a hearing and a vote. There’s nothing in the Constitution that says, ‘We’re gonna hold off to see how the election turns out.’

“It’d be one thing if I was nominating somebody who people might question in terms of qualifications. Merrick Garland, my nominee, may be the most qualified person ever to be nominated for this seat.”

After Obama spelled out Garland’s qualifications, Lake did not challenge the former president — instead moving on to ask about an infamous incident from four years earlier in which then-Governor Jan Brewer wagged her finger in Obama’s face.

“You’ve been to Arizona numerous times, is your lasting impression our former governor doing this,” Lake said, mimicking the finger-wagging gesture.

Obama laughed and said, “No, that actually was not as big of a deal to me as it seemed to be to everybody else.”

The interview lasted five minutes and was convivial throughout. Afterwards, Lake filmed a video outside the White House reflecting on her conversation. Though the footage is garbled, Lake can be heard dishing out at least one compliment to Obama.

“The president definitely puts one at ease,” Lake said.

Watch above, via Fox 10 Phoenix.

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