OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis updated President Joe Biden on the aftermath of Hurricane Milton while slamming Vice President Kamala Harris once more over her jab at him for not picking up her call earlier this week.
Harris was accused of politicizing the issue, and the Sunshine State governor chastised her for not knowing what it means to react to these natural disasters.
“She has no role in this process. And I’ve been dealing with these storms in Florida under both [former President Donald] Trump and [President] Biden. Neither of them ever politicized it,” DeSantis told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” hours after Milton made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane.
“In fact [during] all of the storms I dealt with under this administration, although I worked well with the president, she has never called … She has never offered any support,” the Republican emphasized. “She’s trying to inject herself into this because of her political campaign.”
Following Hurricane Helene’s arrival Sept. 26, several reports surfaced earlier this week indicating that DeSantis’ staff had rejected down an attempt by Harris to reach him late last month.
Pressured about those reports on Monday, Harris assailed DeSantis without mentioning his name.
“People are in desperate need of support right now and playing political games at this moment in these crisis situations — these are the height of emergency situations — is utterly irresponsible and it is selfish,” she told reporters.
DeSantis has insisted he did not know about the veep’s initial attempts to reach him because he was focused on helping Floridians.
“I don’t have time for those games,” he said Thursday. “I don’t care about her campaign, obviously I’m not a supporter of hers. For her to say that my focus should be on catering to her rather than worrying about my own people just shows she doesn’t understand what it means to respond to these natural disasters.”
DeSantis has attacked Harris, while Biden has praised the governor for “great” Milton preparation. DeSantis has returned the favor by publicly praising Biden for thus far providing his state all it has requested.
DeSantis clarified on their phone chat Thursday morning that state officials are still evaluating Milton’s damage and Biden promised to keep green-lighting federal funding based on a White House readout.
Administrator Deanne Criswell of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was also on the call.
“All I can tell you is I’ve talked to Governor DeSantis,” Biden, 81, told reporters Wednesday. “He’s been very gracious. He thanked me for all we’ve done. He knows what we’re doing, and I think that’s important.”
Biden saw damage from Helene in Florida last week, but he did not meet DeSantis, who was conducting a press conference some three hundred miles distant at the time.
Harris took Wednesday off from the campaign route to join in on a FEMA briefing on Milton, but instead succeeded in drawing attention for appearing unfocused on the call, then blurting out, “It’s a live broadcast,” allegedly to a member of her staff.
During an interview on Fox & Friends earlier in the week, the Florida governor was asked about Harris accusing him of “not putting politics aside” and “playing political games with this moment in these crisis situations.”
“She should look in the mirror. We have been on an emergency footing for two weeks straight, around the clock, 24/7. We have been working. My office, our division of emergency management, is helping people prepare for Hurricane Helene and helping effectuate rescues of people after Hurricane Helene,” DeSantis said.
“Helping people pick up the pieces of their lives after Helene and then have to also turn around and prepare for major impacts and maybe even more impacts from Hurricane Milton, be able to have rescue personnel ready to help people and then, of course, help with the power restoration, all these things to do. So that’s been my sole focus,” DeSantis continued.
“My focus has not been on dealing with Kamala Harris. I saw the news report, I didn’t know she tried to contact me. But I would also say it’s not about you, Kamala it’s about the people of Florida. My focus is where it should be. I can tell you this I have worked on hurricanes under President Trump and President Biden. Neither of them ever tried to politicize it,” he said.
