As Kari Lake confronts Democratic challenger Ruben Gallego outside airport men’s room, she says she’ll ‘beat him’ as they battle border crisis

Arizona Republican Senate hopeful Kari Lake confronted her Democratic opponent Ruben Gallego outside an airport men’s room and told him she didn’t want to work with him but would “beat him” after they argued over the border crisis.

The taped meeting, obtained by The Daily Callershowed Lake telling Gallego that she expected their Senate race to be a “knock-knock-down, drag-and-drop” fight as both are vying for the seat of Democratic-turned-independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema.

Lake, a former TV anchor aligned with former President Donald Trump, lost her 2022 Arizona gubernatorial bid to Democrat Katie Hobbs and will formally announce her 2024 Senate bid in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Tuesday.

He boasted to Gallego that “under President Trump we had a secure border,” while saying “that’s not the case.”

He stressed that Trump never made Mexico pay for the border wall, while asserting that Mexico “helped us tremendously.”

It was Gallego who spotted Lake on his flight to Phoenix.

“Hey Kari Lake, we’re on the same plane! Just come back from the front seat to the coach and we can talk,” Gallego posted to X on Thursday, adding that he would be happy to walk the Republican “throughout my legislative work to deliver essential resources to AZ’s border communities.”

She had earlier tweeted him asking “Do you still think a border wall is racist?” – sharing a Politico story about how the Biden administration waived 26 federal laws to allow border construction in South Texas.

Once the two Senate candidates left, Gallego told Lake that they had met before, when she was still a TV reporter, and told his beloved MAGA, “I think we’re going to have a great race.”

A person familiar with the conversation told DailyMail.com that Lake was wearing a microphone, and the video shared with the Daily Caller was edited, with the conversation going on longer than it appeared.

“It’s going to be a knock-down, drag out,” Lake said of their Senate race. “And unfortunately the borders are wide open. You and Kyrsten have had plenty of time to do something about it and even the Democrats are upset about it, Reuben.’

Gallego asserted, “we’ve done a good job” and said “there’s still a lot we can do.”

He suggested there is some “common ground” he and Lake could agree on. “Look, we have to figure out how to get people here legally so they don’t go through the illegal way,” Gallego said.

“We have a lot of people here, the problem is we have a lot of people here right now. We have millions of people here. Fentanyl has killed more young people and you have a chance to vote…” Lake said.

Gallego pointed out that most fentanyl — more than 90 percent — comes into the United States through ports of entry, making it a separate challenge from trying to reduce the number of illegal border crossings.

“I look forward to working together if we can and obviously we can have more discussions on this,” the Democrat said. “I think it’s great that we can have a political conversation today.”

“Political, absolutely, but you know what’s not political? People are dying on the streets in your area,” Lake replied.

He then blasted Gallego for increasing homelessness in his Phoenix-area congressional district.

“Our state,” he said.

“No, it’s your territory,” Lake said.

Lake claimed Gallego had allowed veterans to become homeless, which the Democrat pointed out is that he is a veteran, uses VA services and said it is “absolutely not true” that he had left veterans behind.

“And I appreciate your service to our country, but I sure wish you cared more about our borders. We are a border state,” Lake insisted.

Gallego pushed back, saying, “I care about borders.” “Actually, I’ll go down to the border with you, let’s talk to the mayors,” he said.

“I’m glad you’re finally coming down to the border because you had a chance to vote on it,” Lake said.

Gallego, who has represented Arizona in Congress since 2015, told her, “I go to the border all the time.”

He then invited Lake, again, to join.

“Let’s get the mayors together, they’ll tell us some sensible solutions that aren’t just easy answers,” he said.

Lake insisted that Trump’s border wall must be finished, which Gallego said was oversimplifying the problem.

“We’re going to have to build some border wall, we’re going to have to add some border patrol, we’re going to have to add some ports of entry. But only one thing does not answer at all,” he argued.

He then trolled Lake, saying, “We’re still waiting for Mexico to pay for it.”

“But you know what, this is something you and I can work together on,” the Democratic congressman said.

Lake wasn’t having it.

“No, I’m not working with you, I’m going to beat you, we’re going to save Arizona,” he said.

The video cuts out at this point.

Asked about the meeting, Gallego campaign spokeswoman Hannah Goss told DailyMail.com, “Arizonas don’t care about the Kari Lake ambush at the airport. They want to know why he supports dangerous abortion bans that would put the lives of countless women at risk.’