Fiery GOP senate candidate Kari Lake tells Americans ‘to strap on a Glock’ ahead of 2024 election

Contentious Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake suggested Americans should “strap on a Glock” to prepare for the 2024 election.

Ms Lake, a failed 2020 Arizona gubernatorial candidate who has never formally conceded her loss to now-governor Katie Hobbs, told a rally at Lake Havasu City on Tuesday that the lead-up to the election is going to be “intense”.

“We’re going to strap on our seatbelt. We’re going to put on our helmet – or your Kari Lake ball cap,” she continued. “We are going to put on the armour of God. And maybe strap on a Glock on the side of us just in case.” The crowd cheered.

She then gestured to her right hip, telling the crowd, “You can put one here… and one in the back or one in the front… Because we’re not going to be the victims of crime. We’re not going to have our second amendment taken away.”

Although she stopped short of saying it explicitly, her remarks suggested to her supporters that they could expect political violence in the run-up to the heated election.

However, her campaign rejected that idea. Alex Nicoll, a Kari Lake campaign spokesperson, told The New York Times that the Senate candidate was “clearly talking about the second amendment right for Arizonans to defend themselves”.

Lake Havasu City, where the Senate hopeful was speaking, is located in Mohave County. In 2020, 75 per cent of residents in Mohave County voted for Donald Trump.

At the rally, Ms Lake also aligned herself with the former president. She told the crowd that Mr Trump is “willing to sacrifice everything I am”, Ms Lake said, “and that’s why they’re coming after us with lawfare.”

Mr Trump was found to be the “central cause” of the January 6 Capitol riot, in an alleged effort to stop the certification of the 2020