Lt. Gov. Jay Collins’ biggest battle right now is with Byron Donalds and others in the Republican gubernatorial Primary, but stories of clashes with Gov. Ron DeSantis‘ team aren’t going away.
During a media availability, the LG said allegations from Christina Pushaw and others that he made threatening remarks to a third party regarding Taryn Fenske, a former policy staffer who moved to the political side, for not doing enough on his behalf were unfounded.
“Those are factless, baseless claims. No threats were made. I would never do that,” Collins said, arguing he’s being tried without evidence in an online “court of public opinion.”
The allegation has been a hot topic on social media, with multiple sources close to Fenske and the administration telling Florida Politics that they heard about the incident last year.
They framed it as the culmination of disappointment that Fenske wasn’t building a bridge to DeSantis’ donors and parlaying relationships with contributors and politicians into support for Collins’ run for Governor, with comments supposedly made disparaging Fenske at a Florida State home football game against Virginia Tech last year.
“I protected our people my entire life. I would stand in front of people who want to do harm, even to people I don’t like. That’s the simple fact. I’m a warrior, I’m a protector. That’s how I see myself, and I’m happy to view myself in that way because we need more protectors in this world,” Collins said.
Asked why DeSantis didn’t stifle this rare occurrence of private conflict going public in his operation, Collins rejected the idea that the narrative was running rampant, saying it was being pushed by “five people.”
“I would ask the Governor what’s going on there,” Collins added.
Florida Politics has asked the Governor’s team for official comment on the claims of conflict, but we have not received comment.
Collins added that he has “no issues whatsoever with the Governor, nor his family, or anything he stands for.”
“He’s the greatest Governor in our state’s history, and I think it’s a shame for sideshow antics like this to try to diminish what that man has done. It’s frustrating. He hand-picked me for a purpose. And it’s odd that all of this comes up just as we’re starting to move forward and get traction.”
Asked whether DeSantis would endorse him, Collins said that was another question for the Governor, adding again that DeSantis hand-picked him as his second in command.
Collins also addressed the rest of the field, continuing to describe the stretch run of the Primary as being a “two-man race” with Donalds, whom the “people are not enamored with.” Collins also advised former House Speaker Paul Renner to “get out of the race” because he’s polling at “2 or 3%” and is “not relevant.”
Collins also discussed issues of the day. Among them were teen takeovers, which Collins described as a “powder keg” of “organized lawlessness.”
Collins also addressed this week’s immigration arrest gone wrong in St. Augustine, that led to a suspect running out into traffic on State Road 16 and getting hit by a tractor-trailer.
“Law enforcement did not force him into traffic. He chose to go there,” Collins said.
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