WATCH – Democrat Katie Hobbs Evades Arizona Press: ‘It’s Been Four Weeks, Governor!’

Border - Arizona Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs speaks as she gives the state of the state ad
AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin
Nick Gilbertson

Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ) evaded a group of frustrated reporters on Tuesday, one of whom complained she has not held a press gaggle in a month.

Politics reporter Dennis Welch of Arizona’s Family Station tweeted footage of Hobbs fleeing from the press, in which one of her staffers says, “The governor is not taking questions today. I’m very sorry.”

“Governor, it’s been a week since you vetoed a bill. What do you want!?” one reporter shouted, seemingly referencing the colloquially named “Tamale Bill” that she vetoed several weeks ago. It would “expand the sale of home-cooked foods” and received bipartisan support in the state legislature, as the Arizona Capitol Times noted.

Hobbs pressed on without engaging, hurrying to her black SUV.

“Why won’t you take any questions? It’s been four weeks, Governor, since you’ve had a gaggle,” the same reporter seemed to shout. “Why are you avoiding the public? Why are you avoiding the press, Governor?”

In his tweet accompanying the footage, Welch dubbed the evasion “The Hobbs Dodge.”

“Footage from @GovernorHobbs yesterday ducking questions from the press, again,” he wrote. “The move has increasingly become standard operating procedure for a governor who promised an open relationship with the media at the start of her administration.”

In a follow-up tweet, Welch noted that Hobbs has not identified what changes she wants to see made to the tamale legislation, or House Bill 2509.

“Unlikely to get answers soon,” he added. “Her schedule shows she’ll be in DC & Sedona (an off the record event) for the rest of the week.”

According to Nick Phillips, a reporter for the Capitol Times, Hobbs has not answered reporters’ questions since March, before her former press secretary Josselyn Berry resigned.

Berry had posted a tweet focusing on pointing guns at “transphobes” hours after a trans shooter murdered six people, including three children, at a Nashville, Tennessee, elementary school. Hobbs faced intense pressure to fire Berry.

Hobbs’s radio silence comes after she feverishly dodged debates with her Republican opponent, Kari Lake, during last year’s gubernatorial contest.

The Arizona Clean Elections Commission (CEC) coordinated a one-on-one interview for Lake with PBS News because Hobbs would not share the stage with her. For that reason, the commission did not grant Hobbs a one-on-one interview. However, PBS News circumvented the CEC and set up an exclusive with the Democrat.

WATCH: Kari Lake Blasts PBS over “Backroom Deal” Granting “Coward” Katie Hobbs Interview Against Election Commission’s Wishes

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Furthermore, when former Project Veritas press secretary R.C. Maxwell confronted Hobbs on a restaurant patio in October, she ran inside a bathroom to hide from his questions.

Lake blasted members of the media Tuesday for “act[ing]” as if Hobbs’s debate dodging and hiding from reporters in restrooms “was normal behavior” during the general election.

“Of course, she doesn’t respect you guys,” Lake wrote. “She OWNS you guys.”

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