Speaking to a crowd of Republican Party activists at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Maryland last week, the failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate, Kari Lake, took direct aim at Florida’s highly successful Republican Governor Ron DeSantis.
As rumors swirled that DeSantis was going to eventually enter the 2024 Presidential Election, Lake chided DeSantis to wait his turn. She reminded the recently reelected Florida governor that his term ended in 2027 and that 2024 “was still Trump’s turn.”
Lake made these claims, as she—along with Trump—attempted to cast themselves as political outsiders bucking a corrupt system of good ole boys.
What’s more elitist than the former president and his representatives, like Kari Lake, publicly chiding a newer politician to “wait their turn”?
Kari Lake Wants to Be Trump’s Vice-President
It is obvious that Lake is angling to become Trump’s vice-presidential choice, should the forty-fifth president be nominated at the end of the GOP Presidential Primary.
While I appreciate Kari Lake’s spunky demeanor and can-do attitude, the fact of the matter is that she can’t win an election.
More gallingly, when Lake loses, she says that her opponents cheated.
Remember the words of George S. Patton: Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser.
They also despise when someone whines when they’ve lost. There’s nothing more intolerable than a sore loser. That’s why Richard Nixon did not challenge what was likely a rigged election in 1960. He chose instead to rehabilitate himself and run at a later time. It all worked out for him. But he never whined or complained (at least not publicly).
Therefore, the obsession with Donald Trump and Kari Lake—while there are definitely aspects of them that I appreciate and support—of the “stolen election” motif is perplexing to me. Donald Trump has not won an election since 2016 and Kari Lake, one of the most talked about candidates in recent memory, not only lost what should have been a slam dunk election in Arizona…but she lost in such a way that she spent the whole time complaining about the loss.
Ron DeSantis Readies to Announce for 2024
Unconfirmed reports are now circulating that DeSantis has hinted to his inner circle that he does indeed plan on running for the presidency in 2024. It is speculated that he will make his announcement sometime in May after the Florida legislative session ends. Since his term for governor does not officially end until 2027, Florida law requires him to resign ten days before the deadline for announcing his campaign for president.
Presently, DeSantis is touring the country on a book tour for his memoir. It is likely that the book tour is a cover for DeSantis spreading the campaign message far and wide (and meeting with prospective donors and supporters).
Clearly, Trumpworld is threatened by DeSantis which is why Trump’s likely vice-presidential nominee, Kari Lake, has gone from praising DeSantis last summer to ordering him to respect the elder Trump and know his place in the party (which is apparently behind both Trump and newcomer Kari Lake).
Trump’s entire handling of DeSantis has been bizarre. DeSantis is the most successful governor in America and he is essentially a smarter, more disciplined variation of Trump. The forty-fifth president should be taking credit for him. Instead, they are set for one of the most destructive primary fights in recent decades. For his part, DeSantis’ continual ignoring of Trump’s provocations has been steadfast and disciplined but if he doesn’t start returning fire on at least some of Trump’s criticisms, then those attacks may soon stick in the minds of the voters.
At the very least, the DeSantis team should be crafting responses to Lake’s bizarre line of attack. DeSantis shouldn’t wait his turn any more than Kari Lake should or would. In fact, as America’s most successful governor, DeSantis has much more validity to his claim to be the next Republican presidential nominee than does Lake have any claim to national office whatsoever.
Kari Lake: A Lot of Bitter, Little Better
To be sure, Lake is an entertaining and cunning individual. She probably would have made a fine governor of Arizona. She might have even been able to run for the presidency in an election cycle or two had Lake won the governorship in Arizona.
Alas, she lost.
And the Emmy-award-winning former news anchor continues to embarrass herself with these ridiculous claims of election fraud—which, even if true, cannot be proven.
Just like Trump, had Kari Lake taken her loss and spent the next few years rebuilding, she’d be in office at a later date. Both she and Trump were dynamic enough that losses really wouldn’t have affected them in the long run. The election denials, however, have done them in.
Kari Lake’s comments at CPAC are part of a broader push by Trumpworld to undermine DeSantis’ growing appeal to the GOP. While DeSantis has made some unforced errors, mainly not punching back at Trump when he attacks and impugns DeSantis, the Florida governor continues to forge ahead.
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Unlike Kari Lake, DeSantis is a successful governor with a proven track record that makes most MAGA Republican voters swoon.
He leaves the grievance-peddling and whinging that Kari Lake routinely engages in to, well, the losers.
Author Expertise and Biography
Brandon J. Weichert is a former Congressional staffer and geopolitical analyst who serves as a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive.com. Weichert is a contributor at The Washington Times, as well as a contributing editor at American Greatness and the Asia Times. He is the author of Winning Space: How America Remains a Superpower(Republic Book Publishers), The Shadow War: Iran’s Quest for Supremacy (March 28), and Biohacked: China’s Race to Control Life (May 16). Weichert can be followed via Twitter @WeTheBrandon.
