Kari Lake responded to a CPAC straw poll placing her at the top of a list of potential vice presidents, saying she is “100 percent” dedicated to serving as governor of Arizona.
“I am 100% dedicated to serving as Arizona Governor. I will also work to make sure President Trump gets back in the White House ASAP,” she told the Daily Mail in a statement, following a new report that Trump considered her a “model” vide president, topping several other female contenders. “Anything outside of those two goals is nothing but a distraction.”
Lake drew 20 percent support in a straw poll for a favorite vice presidential candidate and lit up the crowd, who also largely supported former president Donald Trump for a second term in office, by appearing to kiss a Trump portrait on stage.
However, Lake said in her statement, “My goal is to be in the Arizona Governor’s office. … I won the election and everyone in Arizona knows it. We The People deserve to have the leaders we elect hold the office we elect them to.”
“Our best days are ahead of us and it all starts with electing America-First candidates all across this country,” she added.
Last month, her election challenge to Democrat Katie Hobbs was rejected by an appeals court, after she was defeated in the November 2022 election by 17,117 votes. Lake had sought to appeal an earlier Maricopa County Superior Court ruling.
Also last month, Lake appeared in Iowa, a common visit for candidates with national ambitions, telling the Des Moines Register she would help Trump “in whatever [way] I can.” She also said at that time she was “not running for VP” and “not running for president.”
Trump intends to return to Iowa himself, facing a competitive competition where he will need to overcome potential rivals, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, before being able to vet a running mate.
Axios recently reported that Trump is already thinking about Lake as a potential vice presidential pick and that she is among several female potential candidates.
Trump reportedly considers Lake to be a “model” vice presidential pick, citing people who have discussed the matter with the former president, stressing her loyalty to the former president, having taken up many of his claims of election fraud.
During the CPAC’s Ronald Reagan dinner where she kissed the portrait of Trump, “We stand with JFK, Ronald Reagan, Steve Bannon. We stand with Donald J. Trump.”
Trump is reportedly hoping to take a female vice presidential pick, following election analyses, such as one from the Brookings Institution that showed suburban women providing a critical lift to Joe Biden in battleground states.
Some of the potential picks include Lake, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley who was one of the first to challenge Trump for the presidency, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY).
Haley was mostly well received at the conservative gathering, which was skipped by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a potential Trump rival. She did face some heckling with cheers of “Trump!” while walking the hallways of the annual gathering of conservatives.
Haley didn’t hit back at the former president, but did make a comment to the crowd, saying, “Our cause is right, but we have failed to win the confidence of a majority of Americans,” and adding, “That ends now. If you’re tired of losing, put your trust in a new generation.”
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