OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Arizona Republican Kari Lake was spotted Thursday with former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, which has led to speculation about her possibly being chosen as Trump’s 2024 running mate. The Associated Press called the race and announced that Democrat Katie Hobbs had won the race, which was a close contest. Lake is around 49.67 percent of the vote, while Hobbs is at 50.33 percent, 270towin reported.
In light of Trump’s announcement on Tuesday that he would be running for president again in 2024, Lake’s trip to Florida has led to some speculating about Trump and Lake possibly teaming up in 2024. When Lake entered a lunch, which was being hosted by America First Policy Institute, she received a standing ovation. She also delivered brief remarks about the Arizona race and what might happen next.
“Lake was frequently discussed as a potential vice-presidential pick for Trump, although she maintained on the campaign trail that she intended to serve a full term as governor if elected. Now that she’s been defeated for state office, her political path is less clear,” the Post noted.
Republicans on social media were happy to see Lake and Trump together at the event.
One Twitter user posted a picture of Trump and Lake together with the caption, “Trump, Kari Lake, Bolsonaro – let’s go.”
Trump, Kari Lake, Bolsonaro – let’s go pic.twitter.com/1q5VHPApoC
— Kingsley Cortes (@KingsleyCortes) November 18, 2022
“@KariLake if worse comes to worse, Kari Lake will be available to campaign full-time for Vice President of the United States 2024,” another user posted on Thursday.
@KariLake if worse comes to worse, Kari Lake will be available to campaign full-time for Vice President of the United States 2024.
— KAT (@KatFalk) November 17, 2022
Trump has made no comments regarding a possible running mate.
Such a special night at Mar-a-Lago with an amazing group of supporters and everyone’s favorite President.
Thank you, President Trump for your incredible support and endorsement.
We love you! pic.twitter.com/DJg31jGGAB— Kari Lake (@KariLake) November 14, 2021
Kari Lake joins President Trump @ Mar a Lago to strategize… https://t.co/mKmPrclFo6 pic.twitter.com/helKC8gjnS
— Grace Chong 🇺🇸 (@gc22gc) November 18, 2022
Earlier this week, Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs was projected as the winner over Lake in Arizona’s race for governor.
“Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs has defeated Republican Kari Lake in Arizona’s race for governor, NBC News projected Monday. Hobbs’ victory is key for Democrats in a presidential battleground — though the closeness of the contest left the result up in the air for nearly a week,” NBC News reported.
“A record number of early ballots were dropped off on Election Day in Maricopa County, officials said, which had to be processed in a more time-intensive manner that includes signature verification. Maricopa County, the state’s most populous, said Sunday that it estimated that its count was 94 percent complete after receiving a historic 290,000 of those early ballots on Election Day,” the outlet added.
Soon after the race was called, Lake responded on Twitter by saying: “Arizonans know BS when they see it.”
Arizonans know BS when they see it.
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) November 15, 2022
BREAKING: Democrat Katie Hobbs wins Arizona governor's race, NBC News projects. https://t.co/RNFtFkf9Sx pic.twitter.com/ThRKlQ19Yf
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) November 15, 2022
Lake spoke with reporters last week and wasted little time setting the record straight when asked about potentially being picked to be Donald Trump’s 2024 running mate.
Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs was declared the winner over Republican Kari Lake on Monday night in Arizona’s race for governor.
“Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs has defeated Republican Kari Lake in Arizona’s race for governor, NBC News projected Monday. Hobbs’ victory is key for Democrats in a presidential battleground — though the closeness of the contest left the result up in the air for nearly a week,” NBC News reported.
“A record number of early ballots were dropped off on Election Day in Maricopa County, officials said, which had to be processed in a more time-intensive manner that includes signature verification. Maricopa County, the state’s most populous, said Sunday that it estimated that its count was 94 percent complete after receiving a historic 290,000 of those early ballots on Election Day,” the outlet added.
On Tuesday morning, an inside source reportedly told The Western Journal and the website’s founder, Floyd Brown, that Lake does not have plans to concede the race.
