The midterm elections are less than 100 hours away, and one of the most closely watched races is the fight for Arizona’s gubernatorial seat, which has basically come down to Democrat Katie Hobbs versus super ultra-MAGA election denier Republican Kari Lake. At the moment, FiveThirtyEight shows that Lake is leading her opponent by 2.5 points, which has many people, including Seth Meyers, a little nervous.
“Historically, midterms just tend to go very badly for the party in power, and the polls currently suggest that may yet again be the case this year,” Meyers said on Thursday night, before noting that “the main thing holding Republicans back it seems is that they’ve nominated some spectacularly sh*tty candidates.” The Late Night host pointed specifically to Herschel Walker, who has basically been a lesson in everything NOT to do when running for office, and New Jersey resident Dr. Mehmet Oz, who is somehow running for office in Pennsylvania, even though it doesn’t seem as if he could point to the state on a map.
But it’s candidates like Lake who Meyers finds particularly worrisome. And terrifying! Describing Lake as “creepier than one of those Boston Dynamics robots” and having the “vibe of a realtor who insists on putting her face on all of her ‘for sale’ signs,” Meyers also can’t deny that Lake “is much slicker than most of the other weirdos the Republicans have nominated this year. Even if her beliefs are just as looney, she’s a longtime local television personality in the Phoenix area, so a lot of people know her. She even knows how to light herself when she does interviews for her home.”
But, to Meyers, there’s something off about just how perfectly comported Lake is during every appearance and interview — so much so that he wonders if she’s not just a more annoying Jar Jar Binks:
Lake looks so polished, she might be CGI. If she weren’t running for governor in Arizona, I’d think she was a character from one of those ‘90s video games who gives you your mission… That’s how you know someone’s a little too slick. I’ve been on TV for 20 years, and when I started doing at-home shows for the first time, I was so pale I looked like Jared Kushner’s ghost.
Meyers isn’t the only person who is worried that Arizona governors might be swayed by Lake’s natural on-air presence. As the host explained, Barack Obama traveled to Arizona earlier this week and made a point to remind people that just because you know a person from TV doesn’t mean they would make a great politician — or that they have your best interest in mind.
Obama conceded that Lake “is good in front of the camera because she’s been doing it a long time.” But also reminded the audience that “If we hadn’t just elected someone whose main qualification was being on TV, you could see maybe giving it a shot. What’s the worst that could happen? Well now we know!”
You can watch the full segment above.