One of President Donald Trump’s close allies, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, has a Lieutenant Governor named Jay Collins who is running to replace him. Yet he has a major opponent in the Republican gubernatorial primary, Rep. Byron Donalds — and controversial allegations against Collins is turning their race into a full-fledged MAGA civil war.
“Stories of clashes with Gov. Ron DeSantis‘ team aren’t going away,” reported A.G. Gancarski from Florida Politics on Thursday. Gancarski added that DeSantis press secretary Christina Pushaw accused Collins of making threatening remarks to a third party regarding former policy staffer Taryn Fenske.
“Those are factless, baseless claims. No threats were made. I would never do that,” Collins replied, adding that he was being tried without due process in the “court of public opinion.” Yet according to Gancarski, other sources close to Fenske corroborated that he behaved in this way.
“I protected our people my entire life,” Collins said. “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.” He added that the narrative is being pushed by “five people” and urged journalists to reach out to DeSantis himself about them.
“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,” Collins said. “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.”
In addition to urging people to consult DeSantis, Collins implied the ongoing rumor is being cooked up by people who want Donalds to defeat him in the upcoming primary. Yet that issue is not the only one posing a problem for Collins. He is also facing heat for an immigration arrest that went wrong in St. Augustine earlier this week, one that results in a suspect running into traffic on State Road 16 and being hit by a tractor-trailer.
“Law enforcement did not force him into traffic,” Collins said. “He chose to go there.”
This is not the only controversy besetting MAGA Florida. The state has been criticized for renaming Palm Beach International Airport after President Donald Trump, for gerrymandering congressional districts in an attempt to help Republicans keep the House of Representatives and for not doing enough to address the state’s high unemployment rate.