Kari Lake, an anti-LGBTQ+ Republican conspiracy theorist and election denier who lost the 2022 election for Arizona governor and the 2024 election for U.S. Senate, blamed the murder of anti-LGBTQ+ MAGA activist Charlie Kirk on liberal colleges. Lake earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in communications and journalism from the University of Iowa in 1991.

“We’ve got to stop this, folks. We can’t let this go on,” she said at a memorial service for Kirk held by the U.S. presidential administration and televised on CSPAN. “This violence has got to stop. It’s got to stop. And I’m not gonna say our side is perfect, but dammit, this is coming from the other side.”

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Who is Kari Lake? Where does she stand on LGBTQ+ rights?

“How does a 22-year-old become so filled with hate? Five years earlier, I was told, he was a Trump supporter, and we sent our kids off to college and they brainwashed them. I am making a plea to mothers out there. Do not send your children into these indoctrination camps. Don’t do it. Do not do it.”

The suspect in custody for the fatal shooting of Kirk is 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, whose parents are both registered Republicans. However, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R) has stated that Robinson’s loved ones report his political leanings differ from those of his parents.

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Robinson spent one semester at Utah State University in 2021 before dropping out to join the electrical apprenticeship program at Dixie Technical College.

Utah State has been ranked as one of the most conservative colleges in the country. The college data site Niche ranked it 72nd out of 932 on its Most Conservative Colleges in America list, meaning it is in the top 8%.

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