Former Republican congressman Trey Gowdy blasted failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake for attacking Florida governor Ron DeSantis.
Mr Gowdy, who now hosts a show on Fox News, served in the House of Representatives with Mr DeSantis and led the House’s probe into the attack on the US embassy in Benghazi. He left the House in 2019, around the same time Mr DeSantis became governor.
“Political debate in this country is often replaced with one-liners and nicknames and tweets and not-very subtle innuendo,” he said. “Gov Ron DeSantis hasn’t even announced his plans for 2024 but that has not stopped the attacks from coming.”
Mr Gowdy said that the attacks did not come from major media outlets like The New York Times or The Washington Post.
“This attack was from a failed Republican gubernatorial candidate in Arizona,” Mr Gowdy said.
Mr DeSantis has since become a favourite among conservatives for only briefly closing his state down during the Covid-19 pandemic, his heavy focus on curbing LGBT+ rights and curbing how African American history and racism are taught in schools.
Last year, Mr DeSantis campaigned for Ms Lake, who has repeatedly parroted the lies that the 2020 election was stolen from former president Donald Trump. Ms Lake later lost the race to Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs but has so far refused to concede.
But on Friday, Ms Lake shared an article on Twitter saying that liberal billionaire financier George Soros, who has funded numerous liberal causes, endorsed Mr DeSantis.
In truth, Mr Soros has done nothing of the kind, simply saying that Mr DeSantis is likely to be the Republican nominee for president in 2024.
Mr Gowdy excoriated Ms Lake for spreading misinformation.
“Three months ago, she thought Governor DeSantis was the best thing since sliced bread,” he said. “Now she wants you to think that Governor DeSantis was endorsed by George Soros. Of course, it’s not true, but why let the truth get in the way?”
