- Donald Trump left Ron DeSantis off the guest list for his Florida rally, days out from the midterms.
- This means any DeSantis campaign event on the same day must compete with Trump's for airtime.
Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a Miami rally to stump for Florida Sen. Marco Rubio but left Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis off his guest list.
The full day of campaigning is set for November 6, two days out from the midterm elections. The event will kick off at 8 a.m., and the former president is scheduled to speak at 5 p.m., per a schedule released by his Save America PAC. But with DeSantis iced out from Trump's event, any event the governor plans that Sunday will have to compete for airtime with Trump and Rubio.
Staff for DeSantis told Politico they weren't given advance notice of Trump's rally and were angered by the announcement.
"You've got the Sunday before Election Day totally hijacked by Trump parachuting in on Trump Force One taking up the whole day," an unnamed, longtime Republican consultant close to DeSantis told Politico. "No Republican could go to a DeSantis event that day. None. And DeSantis won't be here? This is big."
Another unnamed source close to DeSantis told the outlet that the rally announcement was "an elbow to Ron's throat."
Trump's move comes amid growing rumors that DeSantis may run for president in 2024.
Neither Trump nor DeSantis has officially announced a presidential run, but a potential showdown between the two is expected to be the biggest possible GOP rivalry of the next election.
Two people who recently spoke to Trump told CNN in October the former president has complained about DeSantis and hinted that the governor is ungrateful for his 2018 success, which Trump believes he's responsible for. Trump was once a DeSantis ally and supported his run for governor in 2018.
In another sign that Trumpworld may quickly be turning on DeSantis, former Trump adviser Roger Stone posted a message to the governor on Wednesday. In the message, Stone called him "Ron DeSanctimonius," and said running against Trump in 2024 would be "the most stunning act of ingratitude and treachery in the history of American politics."
DeSantis has not ruled out a presidential run and did not commit to serving four full years as governor during a debate on Monday. A DeSantis representative told Insider in July that the governor is "focused on Florida and running for reelection as governor this year."
An unnamed Trump adviser told Politico that the announcement wasn't meant to be a direct snub against DeSantis. "This is an event President Trump is holding as part of a series of stops he is making for Republican Senate candidates," they said. "It came after he and Senator Rubio spoke directly."
Representatives for Trump, DeSantis, and Rubio did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.