Lt. Gov. Jay Collins has landed on an explanation for the endorsement Gov. Ron DeSantis never delivered: Backing him at his campaign launch, Collins argues, would have dragged the Governor into a “proxy war” with President Donald Trump.
During an interview with Coastal Conservative News, Collins suggested DeSantis didn’t want to go up against Trump, who has endorsed front-runner Byron Donalds.
“In the end, I know why we didn’t have an endorsement to launch. And I’ll tell you exactly why. If we launch with an endorsement, what do we have? A proxy war? Governor DeSantis versus President Trump. The truth is, in Florida, we want both,” Collins said.
Even without a formal endorsement, Collins argued, DeSantis’ preference is easy to discern.
“No matter what, I’m the only person in the race, hand-picked by him, to be where we are, being the No. 2 in the state, his right-hand man. I don’t have to talk about leading the state of Florida. I already am. I’m the Lieutenant Governor of the great state of Florida for Governor Ron DeSantis. That speaks volumes. But what did he say when he appointed me? ‘Jay is Day 1 ready.’ If something were to happen to me, he can step in and lead this state right now. He hasn’t rescinded that statement, last I checked.”
Collins, who is polling around 10%, has been dogged by allegations that he made threatening remarks to a third party about Taryn Fenske, a former policy staffer who moved to DeSantis’ political operation. Sources close to Fenske and the administration have told Florida Politics they heard about the episode.
The allegation holds that Collins expected Fenske to build bridges to donors and endorsers before he entered the race and grew frustrated when she didn’t deliver.
Collins has called the claims “factless” and “baseless.”
Florida Politics has asked DeSantis’ office to comment on the conflict claims and to provide any documentation substantiating them. Those records requests remain unfulfilled.
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