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A US politician has told Australians that she feels 'sorry' for them after they gave all of 'their rights away' when they 'melted down' all of their guns.
Republican candidate for Governor of Arizona Kari Lake lashed out at Australia in an interview with Channel Nine's 60 Minutes programme.
Her interview turned sour soon after she was asked for her opinion on the violent January 6 insurgency, which saw thousands of Trump supporters storm the Capitol Building in Washington last year because they refused to believe the outcome of the recent Presidential election.
Members of right-wing extremist groups, such as the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, have since been charged in connection with the violent riot.
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“I have no say in that,” Lake said, before reminding Bartlett she was running for Governor and therefore pardons would not be within her power.
“What I don’t like is that people are being held in prison without being charged,” she continued. “That’s unAmerican. Maybe they get away with that stuff in Australia.
“Perhaps in Australia, because you’ve given your rights away, you melted down all of your guns and you guys have no freedom, that you find that okay.
“But here in America, we do things differently, we have something called the US Constitution and we have rights.”
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She doubled down on her comments, adding that she reckons Aussies 'absolutely would' be better off having guns.
“The only thing keeping us from being Australia right now is our second amendment, and we will never, ever let that go,” she told 60 Minutes.
Australia reformed its gun laws after the 1996 Port Arthur massacre, which saw Martin Bryant slaughter 35 people and injure a further 23 individuals.
The black mark on Australian history saw state and territories reform gun laws within a fortnight, banning most semi-automatic weapons for civilian use.
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A recent comparison between US and Australian gun laws established that if the Port Arthur death toll was the equivalent of a shooting spree in the United States today, more than 600 lives would be lost.
Soon after Lake's comments on Australian freedoms, she called the country's Covid-19 lockdowns 'internment camps', adding that the lockdowns were 'the most horrifying thing [she thinks she has] ever seen a government do.'
She then cut the interview short and stormed off before hurling one last parting shot at the reporter.
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“That guy is a complete nut. Seriously, a complete insane person," she said to the camera crew.
Lake is among a spate of new Republican candidates, and has been one of the most vocal supporters of Donald Trump.
Rachel Lang