There are just some things you don’t want caught on camera. A local news anchor learned that the hard way after she was caught in the midst of a expletive-laden rant between segments.
Kari Lake of Phoenix, Arizona’s Fox 10 was heard saying, “f— them, they’re dopes,” as her bosses alerted her to a negative article about her in a local paper, Daily Mail reported. The story appeared in the Phoenix New Times, claiming Lake created an account on social media site called Parler, which is used largely by people banned from Twitter for their extreme views. The site, launched in August 2018 according to Daily Mail, is extremely controversial.
Videos by PopCulture.com
While talking about a warning from managers to delete the account, Lake slammed the newspaper as “a rag for selling marijuana ads.” The anchor and her co-host, John Hook, were about to appear on a Facebook Live broadcast, according to Daily Mail and didn’t realize cameras were already rolling.
This isn’t the first time Lake’s been critiqued for her views. Earlier this month it was revealed that she has an account on Parler, a Twitter-alternative used widely by Trump supporters and right-wing extremists.
“I think they just think (Parler) has been branded as a far-right kind of place,” Hook could be heard saying in the video.
Hook continued, “So they don’t want you tied in with anything like that, where you’re going to get blowback from the New Times or whoever it is.”
“I’m reaching people,” she said later in the video.
After the Facebook Live clip was broadcast, Lake was absent from her usual 5 p.m. news slot.
Parler is billed as a “free speech” pseudo Twitter. Parler is significantly less likely to block users for hateful language or views, unlike YouTube, Twitter and Instagram. Many users on the platform have already been removed from the aforementioned sites. It saw a real uptick in popularity in December when right-wing personality Candace Owens declared herself “the first conservative” to pivot to “the new Twitter.”
Other high-profile conservatives on the site include Laura Loomer, Paul Joseph Watson, Katrina Pierson and Brad Parscale. Lake’s Parler account is still active, despite her bosses calling for it to be deleted.
Even before the Parler controversy, Lake was criticized for her social media use. In November, just days before the midterm elections, she shared an unverified claim from a voter who claimed they’d received a pre-filled ballot in the mail, according to Daily Mail.
AZ Central reported that Lake still has a job at Fox 10 and wasn’t asked to leave Parler, just remove it and any references to it from her work-verified Twitter account.
