Former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake (R) fired shots at Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), saying that 2024 is "President Trump's turn."
Appearing for an interview with Newsmax host Eric Bolling, Lake signaled her support for Trump running in 2024, and she urged DeSantis to hold off on a presidential run until after.
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Though he hasn't officially announced, most analysts believe DeSantis will run for president against Trump in 2024. The looming run has split the Republican Party largely between those who back Trump and those who back DeSantis, with Lake falling into the former camp.
In her criticism of DeSantis, Lake urged the Florida governor to complete his term and cited his relatively young age as a reason to wait for a presidential run until after 2024.
“I think Ron DeSantis is an effective governor, there's no doubt about that. The people of Florida just reelected him. I’m assuming when they reelected him, they were hoping he’d stay around for a while,” Lake said.
“I guess he’s in his 40s. He’s about 10 years younger than me," she said. "He’s got a long political future ahead of him and I think he should respect that the people just voted him in as governor and serve out that term for the people of Florida.”
“And then he could obviously run for president. But this is President Trump’s turn and we haven’t seen Ron DeSantis on the world stage yet,” she continued.
Lake went on to express confidence in Trump's leadership, but she expressed doubt about how DeSantis would perform in terms of foreign policy.
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“Some of the people that are surrounding him are kind of the type of people that were pushing for war, that were pushing for the endless wars,” she said.
Lake has positioned herself as a loyal Trump ally since the beginning of her gubernatorial campaign, and that image has continued after her electoral defeat in November. The feelings are apparently reciprocated because Trump reportedly put her on the short list of potential running mates in 2024.