Trump-endorsed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake says she would fine airlines $1,000 for making passengers wear masks

• Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake says she would fine airlines for enforcing mask mandates.
• The fine would amount to $1,000 per incident in Arizona airspace, Lake tweeted Monday.
• Lake, who’s been endorsed by former President Trump, is a frontrunner among Arizona’s GOP candidates.

Kari Lake, a gubernatorial candidate for Arizona backed by former President Donald Trump, said on Monday that she would fine airlines $1,000 for each time they enforce mask mandates on passengers while in Arizona airspace.

Calling for an end to the Biden administration’s mask mandates for planes and transport, Lake tweeted she would “make Arizona skies mask-free” if elected governor in this year’s race.

“Any reports of airlines forcing masks in Arizona airspace would be subject to a $1,000 fine per incident with a tip line for passengers to report,” Lake wrote. “This is a fight worth having.”

—Kari Lake for AZ Governor (@KariLake) April 10, 2022

Her tweet comes as the White House’s COVID-19 response coordinator, Ashish Jha, said Monday on the Today show that an extension of the transportation mask mandate is “absolutely on the table” and would be decided by the Centers for Disease and Control Prevention.

The mandate, set in February 2021 and extended multiple times, is scheduled to expire on April 18.

According to preliminary polls, Lake, a former Phoenix TV anchor who has supported Trump’s baseless election fraud claims, is the leading GOP candidate in Arizona. She is the only Republican in the race more popular than Democratic candidate Katie Hobbs — Arizona’s current secretary of state.

She said in October that she would not have certified Arizona’s presidential election results from 2020, when Trump lost the state by over 10,000 votes, considering what she said were “serious irregularities and problems with the election.” Lake made the comments despite a Republican-led election audit that found President Joe Biden actually won Arizona by a more significant margin than previously recorded.

Arizonans vote for their next governor on November 8. Incumbent GOP Governor Doug Ducey, who is completing his second term this year, is not eligible to run again.