It’s being reported this morning that President-elect Trump is trying to sway Governor DeSantis to select Lara Trump to replace Marco Rubio in the US Senate.
More specifically, the reporting is that Trump is pushing DeSantis pretty hard to do this with one source saying “Trump really wants Lara to do it.”
Here’s more from the New York Post:
President-elect Donald Trump is pressing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to appoint his daughter-in-law Lara Trump to fill outgoing Republican Sen. Marco Rubio’s seat representing the Sunshine State, The Post has learned.
“Trump really wants Lara to do it,” one well-positioned source close to the discussions at Mar-a-Lago told The Post, saying the former president’s daughter-in-law has a high likelihood of being selected.
The incoming president, who is holding court at his West Palm Beach, Fla., resort during the transition, spoke with the Florida governor and already put in a good word for the wife of his second son, Eric Trump, the Wall Street Journal reported.
But she’s made no secret about her desire to be tapped as Florida’s next senator.
Lara Trump, 42, stepped down this week from her role as Republican National Committee co-chair and declared she would “100%” consider taking Rubio’s place if he gets confirmed as Trump’s secretary of state.
“It is something I would seriously consider,” she told the Associated Press in an interview published Sunday.
“If I’m being completely transparent, I don’t know exactly what that would look like. And I certainly want to get all of the information possible if that is something that’s real for me. But yeah, I would 100% consider it.”
A DeSantis spokesman directed The Post to the governor’s statement about him receiving “strong interest from several possible candidates” for the Senate seat — and did not deny that the governor is considering Lara Trump for the spot.
One source close to the RNC, however, told The Post that Trump is “trying to force the appointment with her stepping down.”
“There are a lot of smoke-filled backroom discussions to the point where publicly Trumpworld is trying to force DeSantis’ hand,” the source said.
If I’m being honest, I hate the feel of this pressure that Trump is putting on DeSantis because he’s trying to put the governor between a rock and a hard place. If DeSantis doesn’t select Lara, maybe he’s no longer a backup for the SecDef job but just as importantly, MAGA world will likely hold it against him. If he does select Lara, some may see him as a sellout in order to get the SecDef job – should it become available – and I think we all know she wouldn’t be his first choice. That’s why I don’t like any of this. DeSantis should be encouraged to pick the BEST person for that position and I really do believe he’s a great judge of character. I’m not saying Lara Trump wouldn’t make a great senator, but this just feels all kinds of slimey to me.
