Trump-endorsed Kari Lake, a Republican candidate for governor of Arizona, is the most recent in a long line of GOP officials to say that drag shows put kids in danger. She was recently publicly criticized by one of Phoenix’s most well-known drag queens for participating in the scene herself and apparently allowing her own daughter to join in the fun.
In posts on Twitter and Facebook on Friday night, Rick Stevens, better known to Phoenix’s LGBTQ community as renowned drag queen Barbra Seville, shared pictures of himself and Lake together, reportedly at drag events, just before he claims Lake “went to the right.”
The Queen of Phoenix drag queens, Barbara Seville, spills the tea all over old friend & Trump-endorsed candidate for Arizona governor, @karilake. #AZGOV pic.twitter.com/KmFFuEzzh4
— Brahm Resnik (@brahmresnik) June 18, 2022
Lake, who former President Donald Trump commended as someone who will battle to stop “woke” curricula in schools, recently commented on the conservative campaign to bar kids from attending drag shows on social media.
On Friday, Lake said on Instagram and Twitter that “They kicked God out of schools and welcomed the Drag Queens. They took down our Flag and replaced it with a rainbow. They seek to disarm Americans and militarize our Enemies. Let’s bring back the basics: God, Guns & Glory.”
@KariLake Girlfriend you lie like a rug. https://t.co/aE10w2BXEP
— Dr.W (@boatingdoc_) June 19, 2022
But Stevens claimed that this attitude is far different from the Lake he has known since her Fox10 reporting days in the 1990s, when he claimed she was a regular at a bar where he performed.
Stevens claimed that he had given performances at “some of the seediest bars in Phoenix,” at Lake’s birthday party, and at her house while little children were there.
Stevens described Lake’s remarks as surprising in an interview with Arizona Central. He recounted an occasion when, according to him, she let her little daughter watch Seville perform.
Trump-backed AZ governor candidate Kari Lake:
Drag queens are evil
Also Trump-backed AZ governor candidate Kari Lake:
I was close friends with a drag queen for years before it became inconvenient to my new extreme orthodoxyhttps://t.co/CVA9HHYvF0 pic.twitter.com/tAE5ungQrJ
— David Gilbert (@daithaigilbert) June 20, 2022
“She’s friends with drag queens,” he said. “She’s had her kid in front of a drag queen. I’ve done drag in her home for her friends and family. She’s not threatened by them. She would come to shows constantly. To make me be the bogeyman for political gain, Screenshots of private communications Stevens provided from 2012 showed that Lake appeared to support the LGBTQ+ community.was just too much.”
“Kari was a friend of mine, and I stood by her when she turned to the right,” Stevens wrote.
Radical Arizona MAGA gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake was exposed as a hypocrite by legendary Arizona drag queen, Barbra Seville. https://t.co/U174OiFG5Q
— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch) June 19, 2022
The Republican candidate’s campaign was quick to hit back at Stevens’ claims, however.
“Richard’s accusations were full of lies,” Lake’s campaign wrote in a statement. “The event in question was at a party at someone else’s house, and the performer was there as a Marilyn Monroe impersonator. It wasn’t a drag show, and the issue we’re talking about isn’t adults attending drag shows, either. The issue is activists sexualizing young children, and that’s got to stop.”
Trump-endorsed AZ Gov candidate Kari Lake, who has been railing against Drag Queen performances, has had a Drag Queen performer in her own house perform FOR HER CHILDREN! https://t.co/oTqDHvEjOL
— Ron Filipkowski 🇺🇦 (@RonFilipkowski) June 18, 2022
Stevens then expressed his feelings of betrayal toward Lake, whom he views as a hypocrite, to Arizona Central.
“If I can do anything to expose the hypocrisy, and if I can do anything to keep someone like that, a few votes away, from power, I’m happy to do that,” Stevens said.
