Twitter has been going wild this past week after a short video clip hit social media showing once and future presidential candidate Donald Trump giving someone other than wife Melania Trump a kiss.
The 6-second clip shows Trump, 77, at an event taking place at his Bedminster, New Jersey golf club. The camera is quite zoomed in on the former president’s face, and we see him lean over as Republican politician and former news anchor Kari Lake, 53, suddenly appears in fame. The two give each other a bit of an awkward kiss, with Lake making a “mwah” sound as he smooches her cheek. It seems the former Arizona gubernatorial candidate has been spending quite a lot of time at Mar-a-Lago lately in apparent hopes of becoming Trump’s 2024 running mate, and is likely trying to become personally familiar to the 2024 presidential hopeful. Twitter users went nuts over the clip, joking that Lake might become Trump’s 4th wife and making statements like “GRIFTERS UNITE” in reference to the political union between the pair.
Last night at Bedminster. Honey, I’m home. pic.twitter.com/U99q1rumKX
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) July 20, 2023
Kari Lake Has Been ‘Practically [Living]’ At Mar-A-Lago In Hopes Of Becoming Donald Trump’s 2024 Running Mate
A source told People last month that Kari Lake had been seen constantly at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago beach club to try and make face time with the former president, and possibly get on his 2024 Republican ticket. “Kari Lake is there all the time,” the source told People. “There’s a suite there that she practically lives in.” A senior Lake advisor made a statement to the magazine regarding the insider’s tip that” Kari Lake often speaks at events all over the country in support of America First candidates and organizations,” and that “when she does have the honor of being invited to speak at the beautiful Mar-a-Lago, she overnights at Hilton properties in Palm Beach with her loving husband of 25 years.”
Another source said that Lake was spending time at the club as part of "working the deal" to become Trump's Vice President: "She wants something bigger, fast, to compensate for her loss in [the Arizona governor's race]." Lake had become close with Trump after siding with him in his claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen by the Biden campaign, claims that she reiterated in her own failed gubernatorial race. Her own lawsuit challenging the voting results in the election was thrown out by an Arizona judge in May of this year.
Melania Trump Apparently Annoyed By Kari Lake Headlines; VP Hopeful Reportedly 'Ticks Off' Former First Lady
The kiss clip is notable in the fact that it shows Donald Trump warmly embracing a woman who is not his wife, Melania—who has barely been seen on the campaign trail at all since the former president announced his candidacy late last year. In referencing the People article discussing how Lake "practically [lived] at Mar-a-Lago" to get closer to Trump, reporter Zach Petrizzo said on the Daily Beast's The New Abnormal podcast that the story really "ticks off" the elusive Mrs. Trump. "Those type of headlines—Trump, of course, has printed out story after story, he runs through a stack of papers or whatever have you—typically many of these type of stories will go to the waste bin, but stories about Melania Trump, I mean, really get kind of scrutinized because he has to see her," the journalist explained. The former first lady and her team are apparently "very cognizant of headlines" and the People story "didn't really sit well" with her. Unfortunately, this new video clip has only ignited discussion about the Trump-Lake relationship on social media, especially Twitter.
Now that they kissed, will Kari Lake be the next Mrs. Donald Trump ?
Let’s ask @MELANIATRUMP pic.twitter.com/pBTMuTf4LJ — Joe Wiggins (@flamecrash3223) July 22, 2023
In comments under the original video clip, Twitter users speculated about the politician's relationship with the former prez: "how much you want to bet...you know what I mean. If he hasn't, it's coming, but I think he did. Melania hasn't been seen since tfg said she wanted nothing to do with him," said one commenter. Another wrote, "4th time is a charm," in a joking reference to Trump's current wife Melania being his 3rd, and suggesting Lake might become his 4th. One tweet simply theorized, "Is he going to make this loser his VP?"
Neither Donald nor Melania Trump, nor Kari Lake herself, have publicly commented on the "kiss clip" or the renewed VP speculation.
