Trump allegedly hates DeSantis because he is a nicer version of Trump with rising popularity that might end up as GOP presidential candidate

Trump almost confirmed that he will run for president once again in 2024 and he has his voters’ base behind him, but despite his popularity, he may face a real challenge in the name of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Multiple polls have confirmed that DeSantis is the second most popular GOP member and if anyone decides to challenge Trump in a presidential race, that would surely be him. DeSantis also might end up as the biggest winner of the recent Delta wave since he was the first to implement the antibody treatment in Florida, a treatment that many other states decided to implement for Covid-19 patients since it was proven that is delivering the wanted results.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is a rising star in Republican circles and former President Donald Trump is reportedly not happy about it.

“Trump fu**ing hates DeSantis. He just resents his popularity,” a source close to the former president told Vanity Fair in a report published earlier this month.

Since leaving the White House office in January, Trump attended a few rallies and interviews where he almost announced his presidential run in 2024. What is worth noting is the fact that Trump and his allies recently started to change their narrative in their speeches asking the supporters to forget about the election fraud and concentrate on the next presidential election.

DeSantis has been picking up steam in GOP politics for months and is widely considered to be a leading contender for the party’s presidential nomination in 2024. In the past few months DeSantis started an open war with Biden over Biden’s response to the pandemic, he opposed the lockdowns and mask mandates and his involvement in so-called culture wars, from cracking down on “Big Tech” to rejecting critical race theory.

Both Republicans and Democrats have drawn comparisons between DeSantis and Trump. Florida Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz told Insider that the governor is “Trump’s mini-me.” A Republican donor in New York told Politico that many GOP members view DeSantis as a “nicer version of Trump.”

“Trump tells people, ‘I made Ron,'” a prominent GOP source told Vanity Fair anonymously. “Trump says that about a lot of people. But in this case, it’s actually true.”

For his part, Trump told Vanity Fair that DeSantis is “a good guy.”

“He gives me good credit,” the former president added.

Trump and DeSantis have maintained a close relationship over the last couple of years supporting each other in every single occasion. However, this might mean nothing if Trump and Ron DeSantis both decide to run for president in 2024 and they become rivals.

Trump’s “got zero interest in having any heir. It’s always been about him,” a source close to the former president told Vanity Fair.