CNN This Morning Grills Katie Hobbs for Avoiding Kari Lake Debates: ‘You’re Not Stopping Her From Spreading’ Election Lies

With six days until the midterms, the new CNN This Morning grilled Arizona Democratic gubernatorial nominee Katie Hobbs about her refusal to debate her GOP opponent, Kari Lake.

Hobbs, currently Arizona’s secretary of state, has refused to debate Lake due to the latter’s parroting of the Big Lie that former President Donald Trump won the 2020 election.

Co-anchors Don Lemon and Poppy Harlow confronted Hobbs about her not wanting to be on the debate stage with Lake:

LEMON: Why not debate your opponent? If you believe your opponent has issues and is spreading conspiracy theories about a stolen election and so on and is not being truthful with the people of Arizona, why then not get on the debate stage and debate her?

HOBBS: You know, not only is Kari Lake, has she centered her entire platform around this election denialism, I didn’t want to give her a bigger stage to do that. Additionally, she has shown she’s not interested in any kind of substantive conversation, she’s only creating a spectacle.

LEMON: If you were in the same space with her, wouldn’t it be easier to knock it down in front of everyone, in front of the most people because you’re not stopping her from spreading whatever you believe that she is spreading by not debating her. She can go on television, she can talk about it, she can go in front of the people of Arizona every single day and talk about it. But you’re not confronting her on it. Seems like it would be an easy fix if you stood up on a debate stage and confronted her about these issues.

HOBBS: Look, we’re six days out from the election and our campaign strategy is our campaign strategy, so we’re moving forward. I’m continuing to make my case to the voters of Arizona. Whether or not we debate it in this race is not going to decide this election. So, we made a decision, didn’t want to be a part of her spectacle and she won’t answer these tough questions to real reporters.

HARLOW: But, secretary, it’s not just her that you won’t debate. You did not debate your Democratic primary opponent, Marco Lopez. Why?

HOBBS: I was miles ahead of him in the race and won handily. It’s a totally different situation here.

HARLOW: Well, it’s not debating your opponent again. Have you ever debated your opponent running for political office?

HOBBS: Yes I have.

HARLOW: Why do you think it wasn’t important for people to see a debate in this election for governor at all?

HOBBS: In the primary, I was focused on the general election. I was miles ahead of my opponent. I won handily. It wasn’t an issue. We’re six days from the election and this is the decision we made, so.

Hobbs easily defeated Lopez in the August Democratic gubernatorial primary with just over 72 percent of the vote.

Watch above via ABC.

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