Trump Reportedly Rebuffs DeSantis on Postponing Rally Amid Condo Collapse Search: ‘It’s a Showdown Going On Right Now’
(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Donald Trump is refusing a request by Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida to postpone his rally in Sarasota this weekend as search and rescue workers continue to look for more than 100 victims in the tower collapse in Surfside. The Washington Examiner reported the tension between the two Republicans, who’ve had a close relationship that is temporarily being tested by Trump’s insistence on holding the event in the state on Saturday.
The Examiner reports that DeSantis’s office “made a direct” plea to Trump to postpone his rally, only to be rebuffed. According to a source, “The governor is getting tested here as to how far he’s going to be pushed before he breaks ranks with President Trump. And he has to be very careful because this is Trump country.”
“The base loves the president. But they equally love Ron. It’s a showdown going on right now.”
President Joe Biden is also slated to be in Florida this week, as he will tour the damage of the apartment building collapse in Surfside, where 16 people have died and 147 are missing. It is unclear if Biden and DeSantis will meet.
The Florida governor is said to be eyeing a run for president in 2024, but if Trump decides to run again, that would obviously complicate matters because Trump remains the de facto leader of the party.
DeSantis is popular among Republicans in Florida and nationally. Last month a Trafalgar poll showed DeSantis leading the field of potential 2024 Republican presidential hopefuls. However, Trump wasn’t included in the poll. Last week, a straw poll of conservative activists showed that 74% of those surveyed would approve of a DeSantis nomination in 2024, while 71% would approve of a Trump nomination.
“He does have to win reelection in 2022,” a former aide to Trump told the Examiner. “He can’t piss off the president. But at the same time, he’s reading the temperature correctly.”
Trump was also expected to hold a rally in Mobile, Alabama at Battleship Memorial Park, but park commissioners canceled the event when it became clear to them the event would be “partisan” in nature.
