From left, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla.; Kari Lake, nominee to be U.S. ambassador to Jamaica; Mike Lee, R-Utah; and Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., arrive for a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on pending nominations on June 18, 2026. (Tom Williams/Getty Images)
Though Jay Clayton did not get to appear for his confirmation hearing this week, former Arizona television news anchor Kari Lake did. Thursday, she testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, standing her ground as Democrats demanded she apologize.
President Donald Trump canceled Clayton’s Senate intelligence hearing to be confirmed as director of national intelligence. This heightened both GOP infighting and contention with Trump over the expired Foreign Intelligence Security Act Section 702.
With a contentious week of hearing cancellations, Lake went on, but not without a political showdown. Virginia Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., called out Lake for comments she made about Sen. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., and demanded she apologize.
Lake ran against and lost to Gallego in the 2024 Arizona U.S. Senate race. During the campaign, Lake claimed Gallego was “controlled by the cartels.” She went on to say, “His own father was a Colombian drug trafficker, and so he’s got links to the cartel.”
Gallego’s father was from Mexico, not Colombia. In his 2021 memoir, Gallego wrote that his father was arrested for possessing cocaine and marijuana with the intent to distribute. Law enforcement was never able to link Gallego to any cartel.
Kaine attempted to force Lake to apologize to his colleague, bringing up Gallego’s “traumatic” childhood and abandonment by his father, which the Arizona senator wrote about in his memoir.
“I don’t believe my charge was wrong,” Lake said in response.
Lake lost the election by less than 2.5% of the vote. She now serves as senior adviser to the United States Agency for Global Media.
In May, Trump nominated Lake to serve as ambassador to Jamaica, an independent island country that Lake said she has traveled to “too many times to count.”
Lake highlighted was the strength of Christianity in the country, noting Jamaica has more churches per square mile than anywhere else in the world.
She said she has numerous priorities for her ambassadorship: keep traveling Americans safe, rebuild from hurricanes, strengthen security, protect the country from transnational criminal organizations, and stop financial scams. Other goals Lake mentioned include reducing trade barriers, advancing American interests, and countering China’s economic influence.
