Doug Ducey, Former MAGA Critic, Endorses Donald Trump, Kari Lake

Former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R), who was famously captured silencing a call from Donald Trump while certifying the results of the 2020 election, endorsed both Trump and Republicans’ U.S. Senate nominee, Kari Lake, on Tuesday.

Ducey was never an outright critic of the former president but fell out with the MAGA wing of his party over his decision to sign off on the election results in Arizona, a state Trump narrowly lost four years ago. The former president then called Ducey out on Twitter, now X, warning him, “Republicans will long remember!”

Ducey also rebuked Lake, a Trump ally, for “misleading voters with no evidence” about the 2020 election being stolen, and endorsed Lake’s primary opponent for governor in 2022.

The former governor now says he’s throwing his support behind Trump and Lake due to concerns about the border, inflation and war between Israel and Hamas.

“Much is on the line this election year & I’m encouraging all eligible Arizonans to vote & prioritize the issues that most affect our state & nation. I will be voting for Republicans up & down the ballot in November — and both Donald Trump and Kari Lake have my endorsement,” wrote Ducey, who has been out of office for two years, replaced by Democrat Katie Hobbs.

After refusing to condemn the election he certified and declining to get behind a widely discredited partisan audit of the state’s 2020 election results, Ducey has fallen in line with other politicians who’ve backed Trump after either attempting to walk a tightrope or being outright critical of the former president.