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While Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has made a national name for himself by taking some cues from Donald Trump, there’s at least one person who isn’t happy about the comparison: Trump himself.
That’s according to Rolling Stone, which cites three people who’ve spoken to the 76-year-old former president in recent months and reported that Trump believes the governor is “stealing” some of his mannerisms, such as hand gestures and body language.
“There was this time, maybe a year ago that I remember him making fun of [DeSantis] for doing similar hand gestures and motions,” one source told the outlet. “He called it ‘stealing’ from him and [to paraphrase] described it as a lame impression of Trump.”
Rolling Stone further reports that Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., believes the DeSantis team is turning to his own Twitter account for ideas, and parroting various social grievances or talking points after seeing them on his account.
Political insiders have noticed, too, with longtime GOP donor Dan Eberhart telling Rolling Stone, “DeSantis certainly mimics Trump’s style, rhetoric and body language. DeSantis’ bombastic style seems to be ripped straight out of a Donald Trump style guide. Trump proved that Republican voters want a fighter and DeSantis aims to deliver.”
Various reports suggest that Trump is none too happy with 43-year-old DeSantis’ rise on the political scene.
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Sources speaking to The New York Times in a story published in January claimed that Trump (who is widely rumored to be mulling another presidential run) is angry that DeSantis won’t rule out running against him for president in 2024.
Other sources back that up.
“Donald thinks DeSantis owes his political career to him, and this has caused political friction,” a longtime New York business friend of Trump’s told PEOPLE in June. “Plus, they were never close friends. They never mixed well.”
Another source told PEOPLE that Trump was toying with the idea of announcing his own 2024 run near Tallahassee — the Florida capital — to attract media attention.
“There has been some light shining on Ron DeSantis, which angers Trump,” the political source said. “The team wants to try and scare DeSantis by securing as much Republican support for Trump as possible.”
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A spokeswoman for DeSantis said in an earlier statement to PEOPLE that any alleged rift between the two was a “fabricated media narrative.”
The Florida governor was narrowly elected in 2018 and has since drawn both praise and backlash for his approach to the pandemic as well as his focus on education and support for a controversial bill that bans LGBTQ+ topics in public schools.
And while DeSantis is eyed by many as a contender for higher office, he’s demurred when asked whether he plans to run for president in 2024.
In September, DeSantis told reporters that a White House bid was not on his radar. “I just do my job and we work hard … I hear all this stuff and honestly it’s nonsense,” he said.