CNN host Don Lemon pressed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs (D) why she refuses to debate Republican candidate Kari Lake as the latter is surging in the polls.
Hobbs, Arizona's secretary of state, has been asked in almost every interview about her refusal to debate Lake since Lake has said she would give in to every request Hobbs would put in place.
"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?" Lemon asked.
"You know, not only is Kari Lake centered her entire platform around this election denialism. I didn't want to give her a bigger stage to do that, but additionally, she has shown she’s not interested in any kind of substantive conversation, she’s only interested in creating a spectacle," Hobbs said.
"If you were in the same space as her wouldn’t be it 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," Lemon countered. "She can go on television, she can 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 remained adamant debating Lake will not decide the election and there is no pointing in debating now because the election is six days away.
Arizona's governors race is tight for a state that has trended Democrat recently. The same is true for the Senate race featuring Mark Kelly (D) and Blake Masters (R). Real Clear Politics polling average has Lake leading Hobbs by almost three points. RCP is projecting it will be a GOP hold.