Former President Donald Trump will attend a campaign event for Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., but hugely popular Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis hasn’t been invited at the time of this report.
Trump announced the Nov. 6 rally on Wednesday, but the announcement made no mention of DeSantis, and aides to Trump reportedly said the governor would not be there, Politico reported Thursday. DeSantis is widely seen as Trump’s most credible presidential challenger in a 2024 Republican primary should the pair both decide to run.
Representatives for DeSantis and Rubio did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Fox News Digital.
The incident comes just days after DeSantis refused to answer whether he plans to run for president in 2024. Democratic Florida gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist pressed DeSantis on the issue during an election debate Monday night.
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Former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis were both extremely popular among CPAC attendees.
(Jayme Gershen/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida, walks to a Senate Republican caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, Oct. 7, 2021. (Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
(Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Why don’t you look in the eyes of the people of Florida and say to them, if you’re reelected, you will serve a full four-year term as governor. Yes or no? “Yes or no, Ron?” Crist asked.
“I know that Charlie is itching to talk about 2024 and Joe Biden. But I just want to make things very, very clear: The only worn-out old donkey I’m looking to put out to pasture is Charlie Crist,” DeSantis responded.
Trump routinely out-performs DeSantis in polls of Republican voters ahead of 2024, but the governor remains Trump’s most prominent potential rival.
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Eyes are on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former President Trump when thinking about the 2024 presidential election.
(Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
A presidential straw poll at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit found that 78.7% of attendees favored Trump to be the Republican nominee in 2024. Another straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference in August found that Trump had 69% support from attendees to run in 2024. DeSantis came in with just 24% support.
Nevertheless, DeSantis has carried the victory in some 2024 primary polls. A survey of Republicans in New Hampshire saw the governor take a thin lead over Trump in a potential Republican primary in June. The poll showed 39% of likely Republican primary voters in the Granite State would support the first-term Florida governor, with 37% backing the former president.
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Neither Trump nor DeSantis have declared intentions to run for president in 2024.
