Kari Lake, Gunning for a Spot on Trump’s Ticket, “Practically Lives” at Mar-a-Lago: Report

Despite trying to overturn the last presidential election, inciting an insurrection when that didn’t work, and facing many years in prison over allegations that he willfully retained defense information and obstructed a federal investigation, Donald Trump is currently the front-runner for the GOP nomination. That means that at some point, he’ll have to pick a running mate to join him on the 2024 ticket from hell. And while a number of names have been tossed around in recent months, it appears that just one potential contender has been willing to essentially move into the ex-president’s home to win the gig.

Yes, People reports the bizarre news that, according to a source familiar with the matter, failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake—who, like Trump, insists the election was rigged against her—“spent a significant portion of her time at Mar-a-Lago during its open season.” How much time is considered “significant”? According to the outlet, Lake has appeared at the Palm Beach resort “more than Melania Trump,” a.k.a. Trump’s wife. “Kari Lake is there all the time,” the source told People. “There’s a suite there that she practically lives in.” After Trump announced a third run for office, other sources told the publication that Lake very much wanted to be named his number two, with one saying: “She is working the deal. She wants something bigger, fast, to compensate for her loss in Arizona.”

Does Lake think that she can get the nod from Trump by simply being in his face as much as possible? Obviously, we don’t know her thinking here, but given that the ex-president is known for having an extremely short attention span, and listening to the advice of the last people who spoke to him, it’s not a terrible idea. (The strategy, that is; the idea of these two rabid election deniers being on a ticket together is clearly terrifying.)

In March, Axios reported that Lake was one of four Republican women Trump was considering for his VP, citing her willingness to “defend him vociferously, no matter the issue or controversy.” In the run-up to the 2022 midterms, for instance, Lake called for her likely opponent to be thrown in jail for certifying the 2020 election results, which you know Trump must have loved. More stomach-churningly, she declared last August that Trump had “BDE,” and if you’re unaware of what that means, we regret to inform you that it stands for “big dick energy.” Even more disturbingly, Lake recently said this:

It’s not clear at this point if Lake intends to put in some significant time at Bedminster, where Trump spends his summers, but presumably that plan is under consideration.