Arizona Midterm Elections: Republican Maricopa County Supervisor Hits Back at Candidate Kari Lake, Calls Statements 'Offensive'

There is an ongoing rift in the Republican party, and it is clear to see in Arizona as the Republican chairman of the Maricopa County board of supervisors, Bill Gates, claps back at Republican Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake.

The rift is between more moderate members of the Republican party and pro-Trump Republicans. In Arizona, the latter is led by election denier Kari Lake, who is running for governor while being backed by former President Donald Trump. She claimed that officials in Maricopa County, the state's most populous county, are "slow-rolling" the vote count to skew early election results.

However, a local Republican election official Bill Gates (no relation to the billionaire tech magnate), the chairman of the Maricopa County board of supervisors, hit back. He stated that Lake's comments suggesting that the vote count was "slow-rolled" was offensive as the election workers counting the ballots have been working 14 to 18 hours each day.

Republican Claps Back at Kari Lake's Misinformation

Gates and other Maricopa County election officials have been aggressive in shooting down false information and claims being propagated in the vote counting. This comes as vote counting come under increased scrutiny in Arizona, as Donald Trump and his supporters accused these officials of committing fraud.

Gates admitted that there is indeed a lot of misinformation about the elections, and these come from different sources across social media. This is why he and other election officials continue to fight it. According to the Associated Press, they had two years to hone their game.

The Republican election official stated that there is a "constant flow of misinformation," and they had become adept at responding to them. He added that they have already begun to "understand the importance of responding to that misinformation."

READ NEXT: Former VP Mike Pence Skewers Donald Trump, Says Trump's Words Almost Got Him and His Family Killed During January 6

Kari Lake Calls Election Workers 'Incompetent' as She Trails Arizona Gubernatorial Election

Around 93 percent of all ballots have been counted in Arizona, and approximately around 26,000 votes are left to be counted. However, analysts say that this may be bad news for Kari Lake, as a large number of these are provisional ballots that are seen to favor her opponent, Democratic candidate Katie Hobbs.

Lake is still trailing Hobbs by around one point, and with only a small percentage of votes left, Lake called Arizona election workers "incompetent" and claimed that Arizona is the "laughingstock of elections," according to The Hill.

Bill Gates answered that Lake's comments were sad to hear, but added that the elections being counted more accurately is more important than getting it done faster.

According to Yahoo! News, Lake has urged her supporters to check the ballot status. This comes as a vote "curing" is underway. However, this process is a bit mundane, as it seeks to correct any outstanding issues and could help determine the outcome of the elections. The Arizona deadline is on November 16 at 5 pm local time.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Kari Lake Says Election Could Be Stolen, But Doesn't Provide Evidence - MSNBC