60 Minutes’ Liam Bartlett in fiery clash with Trump-backed Republican candidate Kari Lake

Just a week after 60 Minutes’ $2m Cleo Smith flop, video has leaked of Liam Bartlett’s disastrous interview with a Trump-backed Republican candidate | WATCH

A Donald Trump-backed Republican candidate has accused Australia of running internment camps and rescinding the population’s democratic rights by “melting down their guns” in an explosive exchange with veteran journalist Liam Bartlett.

Kari Lake, who is running for governor of Arizona, walked out after the fiery interview with Bartlett, conducted via a Zoom call and leaked online. She has since labelled him a “complete nut” and a “complete insane person” for grilling her about Donald Trump, the 2020 presidential election and the riots that followed at the US Capitol.

Candid vision of the interview, recorded by Lake’s husband as part of her conditions for participating, has since gone viral on right-wing social media sites throughout the United States, with right-wing identities praising Lake for standing up to Bartlett’s intense line of questioning.

The 25-minute interview started off amicably enough but soon veered into uncomfortable territory, with Lake pushing debunked claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged.

Bartlett pushed back, saying: “On a broad scope, right across the United States, you’ve had election officials, you’ve had court officials, you’ve had judges look at this,” he said.

Lake replied: “They’ve not looked at the evidence, they’ve not looked at the evidence.”

Bartlett said: “There’s been no evidence, no evidence has been presented in a single court of law in your country that has proved there’s election fraud. I mean, if that is true, if it was stolen, as you say, why is there no evidence, a year down the track.”

Lake said: “It‘s really rich to have somebody from Australia coming here trying to tell us how our elections were run.

“You haven’t done your homework either,” she said.

The interview was conducted as part of an upcoming 60 Minutes story understood to be highly critical of conservative figures in the US political system.

The leaked vision will also come as a further embarrassment to the 60 Minutes’ executive team, which is still dealing with the fallout from its underperforming $2m interview with the parents of kidnapped West Australian girl Cleo Smith.

Lake, who also said Trump’s face should be added to Mount Rushmore, reiterated explosive claims that US voting officials are “corrupt”.

“It‘s really rich that sitting in Australia, you’re trying to tell us how our election was run, and it’s so typical of the media to push this propaganda, The Big Lie, The Big Lie is what the media has been pushing for many, many years,” she said.

Bartlett replied: “It’s the media’s fault, so the media are corrupt, the election officials are corrupt, the courts are all corrupt, everybody’s corrupt?”

She then accused Bartlett of not doing his research, with Bartlett replying: “I have done my research, with respect I could be sitting on a hill in Timbuktu, it wouldn‘t matter where I was, there’s still being no hard evidence presented.”

The back-and-forth continued, with Lake saying Australians “don’t even have any freedom”.

Lake said: “What I don’t like is that people are being held in prison without being charged, that’s un-American, 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, but you find that okay.

“But here in America we do things differently, we have something called the US Constitution and we have rights,” she said.

Lake doubled down, saying Australians would be better off having more guns.

“I feel so sorry for the people in Australia, (who) have no power, the only thing keeping us from being Australia right now or Canada is our Second Amendment, and we will never ever let that go,” she said.

“What we saw happening in Australia, internment camps, and people are being forced — if they’ve encountered anybody with Covid — to be locked into a quarantine camp is the most horrifying thing I think I’ve ever seen a government do,” she said before giving Bartlett one final question.

Bartlett replied: “Would it have been better on the sixth of January if the military had been involved.”

Lake replied: “Why do you keep asking me about the sixth of January?”

Bartlett replied: “It was a watershed moment for you, don’t you agree? A thousand assaults, 769 people charged, you don’t think that was the big event?”

Lake replied: “Liam you can keep asking the same questions and I‘ve already given you my answer, I do appreciate your time.

“I appreciate all the effort you went through to do the interview, and I thank you so much for your time, you‘ve asked the question three, three times, and I believe I’ve answered it.

“So thank you so much for your time. Appreciate it.”

Bartlett went in for one more question, but Lake had already stood up and began removing her microphone. “So when the going gets tough the tough get going?” he asked.

“I gave you 15 minutes, we promised you 15 minutes sir,” she said.

Bartlett replied: “Well no, you promised us 30 minutes actually yesterday.”

Lake replied: “Well I never promised 30 minutes, I told my staff, 15.”

Bartlett replied: “Really? I don’t think that’s true.”

Lake replied: “I‘m sorry you asked the same question three times and wasted your time.”

Bartlett said: “Well I’m sorry you couldn’t bring yourself to see the world in a different light.”

“Well are you a journalist or unbiased journalist, or not? Why are you trying to tell me how I should see the world,” she said.

“You’re a journalist.”

Bartlett replied: “No, you don’t get any questions to me, you‘ve cut me off you don’t get any questions to me.”

Kari Lake speaking with Liam Bartlett from 60 Minutes.

Lake said: “Why are you trying to tell me as a journalist how to see the world, I don’t understand that. It’s not a journalist’s job to tell me how to see the world, it’s a journalist’s job to ask questions that are not biased and I didn’t get from you.”

Bartlett replied: “Why aren’t you open and accountable to the facts, and real evidence?”

Lake said: “Oh boy, I’m happy to send you some of the facts.”

Bartlett said: “This is the way Trump people do it, yeah? This is what happens. You have one narrative and that’s it, you can think out of the box.”

Lake said: “Sir I believe you have that narrative.”

The pair continued back-and-forth for several more minutes.

“I don‘t I don’t live in Australia, are you actually a respectable journalist there or are you kind of considered a joke?” Lane asked.

Bartlett replied: “Incredible. Incredible. That’s the Donald Trump way, it’s fake news, all of a sudden it’s fake news, if you have a different narrative it’s fake news.”

The pair continued, before Lake walked out of the room.

“That guy is a complete nut, seriously, a complete insane person. Do people in Australia listen to him?” she said while walking out.

“That’s the craziest thing I’ve ever experienced,” she said.