A heavy-hitter in Republican politics is warning Florida Gov Ron DeSantis (R) to stay out of the 2024 contest against former President Donald Trump.
Arizona’s 2022 Republican gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake issued a stark challenge to the Florida governor, who is likely to join the Republican primary for president in the coming weeks or months.
In short, Lake called on DeSantis to wait his turn.
Lake described the governor as “effective,” but added that the people of Florida must hope that he would complete a second term prior to running for another office.
Kari Lake Backs Trump, Bashes DeSantis: 'It's Trump's Turn' https://t.co/2po0ZwffxW
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) March 10, 2023
Lake said that since DeSantis is 44 years old, “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.”
In the meantime, Lake said, DeSantis could run for president starting in 2024 or later, adding that “this is President Trump’s turn and we haven’t seen Ron DeSantis on the world stage yet.” Lake said that DeSantis is supported by the “kind of type of people that were pushing for war, that were pushing for endless wars.”
DeSantis endorsed Lake and traveled to Arizona to campaign with her.
Lake increased her profile through her direct and often confrontational form of campaigning, which helped her win the Republican primary. She lost the 2022 general election in a tight race to Gov. Katie Hobbs (D-AZ) in what Lake describes as a problematic election.
