The battle of Ron and Don: Simmering DeSantis-Trump feud set to explode after rally snub

Former President Donald Trump's political shadow looms large over Florida, but Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is stepping out from under it as he seeks reelection this year and possibly the 2024 Republican presidential nomination later.

Trump and DeSantis aides publicly downplay reports of tensions between the two camps. But their actions contradict their words, with Trump this week announcing a joint rally in Miami next weekend with Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) but not DeSantis. The Florida governor and potential Trump White House rival unveiled his own Nov. 6 event near Tampa on Friday.

The dueling rallies are the latest line to be drawn between the pair as Trump and DeSantis "position themselves relative to one another" before the 2024 presidential cycle and amid the former president's legal and investigation problems, according to Spiro Kiousis, the executive associate dean at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications.