Just days before the midterm elections, Donald Trump will address Republicans in Florida. However, the state’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, won’t be present.
Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida will speak at the rally on November 6 in Miami, but according to AWN, Trump’s campaign did not notify DeSantis of their plans in advance. This year, both Marco Rubio and Ron DeSantis are up for reelection.
This is not an error or omission. It’s the most recent in a string of verbal (and nonverbal) jabs that Trump has levelled at DeSantis in the run-up to a possible primary clash between the two Republicans in 2024.
Trump has been quite clear about how he feels about DeSantis.
In an interview with Yahoo Finance in October of last year, Trump said, “If I met him, I’d defeat him like I would beat everyone else.” “I think the majority of people would leave, and I think he would leave.”
Trump has also asserted that when he supported DeSantis’ campaign for governor in 2018, it “made” him, giving the congressman the boost he needed to triumph in both the primary and the general election.
While Trump, as he frequently does, exaggerates his contribution to DeSantis’ victory in 2018, there is no denying that he did.
More recently, when DeSantis made a robocall for Colorado Republican Senate candidate Joe O’Dea, Trump called it a “BIG MISTAKE.” O’Dea offended Trump by stating that he would “actively” oppose the outgoing President if he sought for office in 2024 in an interview with AWN’s Dana Bash.
For his part, DeSantis has mostly shied away from Trump. Included in that is the type of “boot-polishing” that many Republican elected leaders have been doing in an effort to win Trump’s support. Trump hasn’t expressly backed DeSantis for reelection.
It is noteworthy that Trump wasn’t kowtowed to. Particularly when you take into account that DeSantis punted when asked if he would promise to serve a full four-year term if elected during a debate this week.
The Florida governor’s political danger is taken seriously by the former President, as evidenced by Trump’s not-so-subtle digs at DeSantis.
which he ought to!
DeSantis has rapidly risen to prominence in GOP national politics since his victory in 2018 as a prominent figure. He gained notoriety when he voiced doubt about the Biden administration’s suggested closures and masking tactics during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic. DeSantis then seized upon the idea of “woke” society, objecting, for instance, to critical race theory being taught in schools.
In hypothetical GOP primary elections in 2024, polls continue to put Trump in the lead. But DeSantis consistently receives double-digit support, usually being the only Republican to do so who is not named Trump. Additionally, DeSantis and Trump received about equal amounts of support in a New Hampshire primary poll conducted over the summer.
All of this is not meant to suggest that a) DeSantis would indubitably run for president or b) he could mount a credible challenge to Trump.
However, it is certain that Trump is taking action to address the threat that DeSantis offers and is fully aware of it.