Journalist Claims Kari Lake Accosted Him After MAGA Conference: ‘Piece of S**t!’

Kari Lake stares forward.
Cheney Orr / REUTERS

A self-proclaimed “Never Trump” journalist has accused Kari Lake of unleashing a profane tirade against him after they attended a conservative conference where Donald Trump spoke this weekend.

The Bulwark’s Tim Miller accused Lake of repeatedly calling him a “piece of s--t” and screaming in his face at an afterparty for Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest.

Miller, 42, wrote that Lake recognized him as he sipped on a bourbon and coke in a room that was surely packed with conservatives. He alleged that she approached “fast” and then unleashed on him, possibly upset with how their last encounter went.

“‘DON’T TOUCH ME,’” she screamed, according to Miller. “‘YOU ARE A PIECE OF S--T.’”

Miller claims that Lake, the twice-failed MAGA candidate who is now Trump’s choice to be director of Voice of America, looked back after her initial confrontation to clock if her husband had captured the ordeal on camera or not.

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“One of the many observers of the scene—and let me tell you, it was a SCENE—later told me that they thought Cameraman Lake had missed the approach, possibly the cause of Kari’s decision to double back for more,” Miller wrote in The Bulwark.

The ex-RNC spokesperson and political consultant said that Lake then turned around and berated him again, apparently getting in his personal space. He claimed that she pinched his arm “like an angry grandmother” and had “increasing rage in her eyes.”

Kari Lake lost a gubernatorial run in 2022 and a U.S. Senate run in 2024, but the Donald Trump loyalist has been picked to lead Voice of America. / ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images
Kari Lake lost a gubernatorial run in 2022 and a U.S. Senate run in 2024, but the Donald Trump loyalist has been picked to lead Voice of America. / ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images

Lake, 55, is accused of then attacking Miller’s integrity and claiming he did not care about “fentanyl mothers” and that he is “fake news,” a longtime favorite of those in the MAGA scene.

Perhaps the most surprising detail from the alleged encounter was who calmed the waters: Laura Loomer, the infamous right-wing instigator who grabbed all sorts of headlines for her proximity to Trump during the 2024 campaign.

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Miller explained Loomer’s moment of diplomacy as such: “[She] made her way through the crowd of onlookers, stood next to Lake and echoed her assessment that I was a lying POS, but in a tone that was more appropriate for a public gathering. Loomer’s calm-disdain-mixed-with-curiosity about my presence seemed to cause Lake’s manic rage to peter out.”

Miller texted the Daily Beast on Sunday evening that he had “nothing to add” on the encounter. He wrote that he thinks he mostly “smiled awkwardly” throughout the clash, but he won’t be totally certain of his reaction until he can see it on video.

“A few times I attempted to congratulate Lake on her new role as the nominee to be the director of the Voice Of America,” he wrote. “At first I was trying to de-escalate, but eventually I confess that I was mocking her.”

The Daily Beast reached out to a Lake spokesperson seeking comment and a copy of the supposed video, but did not hear back on Sunday night.