A Timeline of Kari Lake’s Ridiculous Zoom Filter

A tense interview between the GOP Senate candidate and CNN's Kaitlan Collins was difficult to take seriously as viewers struggled to make sense of Lake's infamous digital filter.

By Kylie Cheung  |  October 29, 2024 | 3:51pm
Screenshot: CNN Politics 2024 Election
A Timeline of Kari Lake’s Ridiculous Zoom Filter

On Monday night, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins invited Kari Lake on her show, and the conversation quickly devolved into chaos over whether the GOP candidate for U.S. Senate in Arizona has accepted the results of the 2022 election. Lest you forget, Lake narrowly lost that election to Democrat Katie Hobbs… but still refuses to accept this. Throughout the frankly chilling back-and-forth, Lake repeatedly declined to admit that she lost the election, even though Hobbs has been serving her term as governor for about two years now.

When Collins further pressed Lake on the matter, Lake eventually began trying to interview herself. After Collins raised that all of Lake’s legal challenges regarding the 2022 election have been unsuccessful, Lake interjected, “Well, I think what you meant to ask is, ‘Kari, things are really tough right now—'” Collins, audibly frustrated, quickly shut her down: “With all due respect, I’m conducting this interview, but you’re not answering those questions. And if that’s your answer, that’s fine.”

But while Lake continues trying to figure out what happened in 2022, I’m still trying to figure out what was going on with her face throughout the interview. “why does nobody in the republican party know how to match a foundation undertone?” one Twitter user asked. We’re not here to dissect or critique a woman’s appearance, but we are here to laugh and frankly gawk at politicians using technology in extremely bizarre ways. And, on closer research, I learned this is actually Lake’s signature filter—the Kari Lake Filter, if you will—which she applies whenever she uses Zoom for interviews. The practice dates back to at least 2022.

“I’m pretty sure removing the gauzy filter would have the same effect on Kari Lake as sunlight has on a vampire,” one user wrote, quote-tweeting a video of Lake appearing on the far-right OANN in October 2022, during Lake’s gubernatorial campaign.

The filter appeared again in November of that year, as Lake revved up her cable media appearances to deny the results of her unsuccessful gubernatorial bid.

In January 2023, she used the filter to remotely join Steve Bannon’s podcast: “Kari Lake’s filter is on the fritz again,” one user wrote, sharing a clip of her.

For reference, here is a rare glimpse of Lake joining a cable show via Zoom without her trademark filter, from January 2023:

By March 2023, Lake’s filter seems to have become famous enough to be a running internet gag. One user shared a semi-viral, edited photo of Lake smiling like the Joker with her facial features distorted by a similar, but only slightly more dramatic version of her signature filter of choice:

And, by July 2023, the filter in question was officially named after her. “[Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis rolling out the Kari Lake filter,” pundit Ron Filipkowski wrote in a tweet after DeSantis remotely appeared on Fox News. A range of other primarily right-wing politicians and personalities have been accused of donning the “Kari Lake Filter,” too:

Lake appeared to reintroduce her classic, digital face mask for the 2024 campaign trail in March this year. You’d think “new election, new filter,” but just as Lake clings on to her delusion that she didn’t lose in 2022, she seems to be clinging on to the equally bonkers notion that this specific filter is doing her any favors:

And now, as of Monday night, Lake’s filter has yet again monopolized the political discourse, as the memes continue to roll in:

For those joining Kari Lake Filter Watch™ for the first time on Monday night, it raised questions. “what’s going on with the coloring here?” one user asked. Others offered their compliments—whether backhanded or sincere, you can be the judge: “Kari Lake’s filter deserves no taxes on overtime pay,” one user said. “Kari Lake’s soft-glow filter always puts in that WEERRRQQQ,” cheered (?) another. “Kari Lake and Callista Gingrich going filter for filter rn,” one user quipped.

At the end of the day, Lake’s obsessive need to blur her face via Zoom is the least off-putting thing about her. I’d probably need something to blur my aura, too, if I were an election denier who supported Arizona’s Civil War-era abortion ban and enjoyed stalking Donald Trump across Mar-a-Lago. But as the adage goes, “Your body, your choice,” or perhaps, in this case, “Your face, your (completely insane) filter.”

 
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