As Floridians labored under the burdens of two major hurricanes Florida’s principled limited government constitutional conservative Governor Ron DeSantis said he was thankful to President Joe Biden for approving everything they needed thus far, adding that if they need
additional help, he “will not hesitate” to give him a call.
“We want to use whatever resources are available to be able to help Floridians prepare and respond to this storm. But everything we’ve asked for from President Biden, he has approved, and we do think we’ll get more approvals for some of the individual assistance and the debris removal after landfall,” DeSantis said, according to reporting by CNN.
However, Governor DeSantis had much harsher words for Vice President Kamala Harris after establishment media reported – falsely – that he had refused to take her calls.
In a tarmac media availability Harris told reporters that “moments of crisis, if nothing else, should really be the moment that anyone who calls themselves a leader says they’re going to put politics aside and put the people first.”
“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 just utterly irresponsible, and it is selfish, and it is about political gamesmanship instead of doing the job that you took an oath to do, which is putting the people first,” the vice president said at Joint Base Andrews.
DeSantis quickly called BS on Harris’s criticism, telling reporters during a press briefing in Tallahassee he had not been aware of the vice president’s calls, “I didn’t know she called me.”
"We’ve been laser focused on leveraging all resources available, including from the federal government, and I’ve been in touch with both FEMA and the president, as well as marshaling all our state agencies and working to support our local communities,” DeSantis said on Fox News. “For Kamala Harris to try to say that my sole focus on the people of Florida is somehow selfish, is delusional.” he said according to reporting by our friends at Florida’s Voice.
“She has no role in this,” Florida’s Voice reported. “In fact, she’s been vice president for three and a half years. I’ve dealt with a number of storms under this administration. She has never contributed anything to any of these efforts, and so what I think is selfish, trying to blunder into this.”
“She has no role in this process,” the governor said. “I’m in contact with the president of the United States. I’m in contact with FEMA director. I’m obviously managing all our state agencies. We’re supporting all our local governments.”
He added: “She’s the first one who’s trying to politicize the storm, and she’s doing that just because of her campaign,” he said. “She’s trying to get some type of an edge. She knows she’s doing poorly. And so, she’s playing these political games. I don’t have time for political games. I’ve got peoples whose lives are on the line.”
“I’ve got people whose homes and their possessions are on the line, and we are focused 100% on that mission,” DeSantis said. “I’m not worried about playing her political games, and so she is being selfish by trying to blunder into this when we’re working just fine.”
“Look in the mirror,” he advised during a Tuesday “Fox and Friends” hit. “It’s not about you, Kamala. It’s about the people of Florida.”
DeSantis says “politics” are why she’s “trying to parachute in and inject herself,” noting the vice president isn’t “in the chain of command.”
A DeSantis spokesperson told NBC News that he believed the Democratic presidential nominee's attempts to reach out, "seemed political." DeSantis reiterated he has not been screening calls from Harris.
"I didn't know that she had called," he said. "I'm not sure who they called. They didn't call me. Their characterization of it was something that they did. It wasn't anything that anybody in my office did, in terms of saying it was political,” Newsweek reported.
DeSantis added that he has worked well with both the Trump and Biden administration on storm response.
“I’ve had storms under both President Trump and President Biden, and I’ve worked well with both of them,” DeSantis continued. “She’s the first one who is trying to politicize the storm, and she’s doing that just because of her campaign. She’s trying to get a political edge. She knows she’s doing poorly.”
DeSantis said he didn’t want to play “selfish” Harris’ “political games.” Neither do those of us CHQ staffers who live in Florida and who have seen firsthand the stellar job that Ron DeSantis has done in the aftermath of every hurricane Floridians have faced during his administration.
The White House switchboard is 202-456-1414, call Vice President Kamala Harris and tell her that, unless she is driving a semi full of relief supplies, you want her to butt out of Florida’s hurricane response effort.
2024 Election
Kamala Harris campaign
Governor Ron DeSantis
Hurricane Helene
Hurricane Milton
FEMA
Biden administration
disaster relief
President Joe Biden recovery
Comments