Former Arizona Governor Doug Ducey endorsed both former President Donald Trump and former TV news presenter Kari Lake in the forthcoming presidential and Senate elections.
“Much is at stake this election year, and I encourage all eligible Arizonans to vote and prioritize the issues that matter most to our state and nation. I will vote for Republicans up and down the ballot in November, and I support both Donald Trump and Kari Lake,” Ducey stated. “Differences aside, there is too much on the line, and only a Republican in the White House and a majority in the House and US Senate can ensure it.”
The fresh endorsements come just days after a particularly contentious week in Arizona, which included visits from Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican counterprogramming at a combined Trump-Lake event.
According to a recent HighGround poll, Harris and Gallego are somewhat more popular among the opposition than Trump and Lake.
There has been strain in Ducey’s relationship with Trump. Despite Ducey’s initial support for Trump, a significant difference emerged towards the end of his tenure as governor. Ducey notably ignored a call from then-President Trump while certifying Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 election in Arizona. Trump has recently described Ducey as “one of the worst governors in America.”
When it came to election denialism, Ducey stated that some individuals had been misled, while others simply needed to be reminded of the truth.
“Sometimes you need a ‘clean up on aisle nine’ to focus the mind,” Ducey said of the allegations of a stolen election. “I do think the candidates that you saw focusing on the future, rather than looking in the rearview mirror and talking about the past, were the ones that had great success.”
In 2022, Ducey endorsed Karrin Taylor Robson, who ran against Lake for governor. Lake eventually won the GOP primary that year, but lost to current Governor Katie Hobbs.
The former Republican governor has also been in the spotlight as the campaign for the White House heats up, with all eyes on Arizona’s crucial 11 electoral votes.
In an interview with the New York Post, he lambasted President Joe Biden and Vice President Harris.
“I worked with three presidents: Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden.” “Joe Biden was by far the worst at the border,” he told the Post’s Cameron Arcand.
He told the source that Harris’ refusal to visit the border and lack of “attention to the border” are things he “will have to answer for in this presidential campaign.”
