Reporters were reportedly barred from attending Katie Hobbs’ Monday swearing in ceremony.
Hobbs only allowed a single photographer from the Associated Press, according to Stacey Barchenger of the Arizona Republic.
“Arizona’s 24th governor, Katie Hobbs, assumed power at 10 a.m. on Monday and in her first official act, she decided to take the public’s business private,” tweeted Laurie Roberts, a columnist for the outlet. “Not a great start.”
Arizona's 24th governor, Katie Hobbs, assumed power at 10 a.m. on Monday and in her first official act, she decided to take the public’s business private. Not a great start. https://t.co/DBHYraYBNF via @azcentral
— Laurie Roberts (@LaurieRoberts) January 2, 2023
“New year, new leadership in Arizona, new stakeouts because reporters aren’t allowed into the 10 a.m. swearing in of incoming Gov. [Katie Hobbs],” said Barchenger.
Video of Hobbs laughing and stammering throughout her swearing in ceremony went viral.
“During her swearing-in ceremony, [Katie Hobbs] laughed and giggled throughout what was supposed to be a dignified process, and refused to say that she would support our constitution,” Kari Lake War Room tweeted Monday afternoon. “Everyone enjoy your Banana Republic. And pray that a brave judge puts an end to this charade.”
During her swearing-in ceremony, @katiehobbs laughed and giggled throughout what was supposed to be a dignified process, and refused to say that she would support our constitution.
Everyone enjoy your Banana Republic.
And pray that a brave judge puts an end to this charade. https://t.co/XLoeBSLPSG
— Kari Lake War Room (@KariLakeWarRoom) January 2, 2023
Vice president for legal affairs at the Goldwater Institute Timothy Sandefur defended Hobbs by saying the Governor felt “emotional.”
“This is not a fair characterization,” said Sandefur. “If you watch the whole video you can see that Gov. Hobbs was feeling emotional & made a little joke to her mother (holding the Bible) about how they were both getting choked up.”
On Dec. 30, Republican Gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake filed a petition to appeal her court case alleging voter fraud to the Arizona’s Supreme Court after her lawsuit was dismissed by a lower court earlier in the month.
“I’m hoping our appeal is more of the same. Where people actually get to see how corrupt this is,” Lake said. “One of the things the judge would not allow us to bring forth was the count on the lack of signature verification, or at least the process that is so broken.”
“A significant majority of voters no longer trust the outcomes of elections in Arizona,” reads Lake’s petition. “A functioning republic cannot exist for long in these circumstances.”
Lake’s team argues evidence put forward in the petition proves Maricopa officials “caused the chaos” at about two thirds of the County’s voting centers. County officials reportedly used misconfigured ballots causing tabulators to reject tens of thousands of ballots “disproportionately targeting Republican voters.”
Maricopa County officials further violated chain-of-custody requirements to nearly 300,000 Election Day drop box ballots along with allowing tens of thousands of ballots with reportedly mismatched signatures to be counted.
“The evidence adduced at trial showed that Arizona’s election process is broken. This Court is the only body which has the power to restore trust in Arizona’s elections,” the petition stated.
