Over the last couple of months, Florida has been hit by two hurricanes, with the first one being Hurricane Debby in early August and the second one being Hurricane Helene in late September.
Though Debby was a Category 1 storm by the time she made landfall in the Big Bend area of the Sunshine State, she packed a powerful punch including heavy rains, storm surges, and strong winds that left downed trees, powerlines, and flooding. Five people were killed during the storm. Helene, which also hit the Big Bend region, was a Category 4 when she struck, leaving more devastation in her wake including at least 20 deaths in the state.
And now, as an even more powerful hurricane threatens Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis is once again in “get it done” mode, providing advance storm briefings detailing how crews have been preparing, and urging residents to evacuate.
SEE ALSO: The Last Thing the Southeast Needs Is Another Hurricane—but Potential Cat 4 ‘Milton’ Is on Its Way
But a briefing DeSantis held Monday took a turn when one of the reporters decided to play politics.
It started not long after other journalists asked about storm-related calls from President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, citing an anonymously sourced report that alleged that DeSantis refused to take a call from Harris regarding post-Helene operations.
NBC News reported that an aide supposedly told them that “Kamala was trying to reach out, and we didn’t answer.”
During the briefing, DeSantis pushed back on the suggestion that he’d deliberately avoided calls from either Biden or Harris, saying that the one call he knew of from Biden came as he (DeSantis) was on a helicopter, and he said that if the POTUS had tried to call any other time that he was “not aware of it.”
Related to the purported Harris call, DeSantis stated that he “didn’t know that she had called” and was “not sure who they called but they didn’t call me.” He also denied that any type of “political” response had come from his office.
But it was the next question from another reporter named Gary that set DeSantis off. When the reporter said he did want to ask about politics, DeSantis went off, saying now was not the time to play political games while noting that the news organization in question would spin his answer no matter how he phrased it. DeSantis also emphasized as he had previously that he had been in contact with FEMA and that he had gotten everything he requested from the feds.
In other words, no need to talk to Biden and Harris personally when you’ve been busy touring the state and connecting with the people who are directly charged with handling aid requests:
Here is the clip of Ron DeSantis categorically denying the report from @ABC that he ignored a call from Kamala Harris. pic.twitter.com/zfH7yDXtdM
— Dustin Grage (@GrageDustin) October 7, 2024
Keep in mind, too, that left out of all the breathless reporting on DeSantis allegedly “refusing” to take calls from Harris and Biden was how DeSantis felt in 2022 that Biden “stiffed” residents of Florida when it came to federal aid after tornadoes hit Charlotte and Lee counties that same year.
Further, as Hurricane Ian loomed close to Florida two years ago, Biden called the mayors of those in the projected path but did not reach out to DeSantis personally until the governor mentioned the fact during another press briefing.
In any event, this is much ado about nothing, IMO. As DeSantis pointed out, he’s gotten everything he needs so far from FEMA and hasn’t complained about the federal response to Helene because things are under control there. Why he would need to massage Joe Biden’s and Kamala Harris’ egos at this point is a mystery, but then again, perhaps politics are at play here – not from DeSantis but from the Biden-Harris administration itself.
RELATED–>> ‘Full Biden Mode’: Reporters Detail Troubling Tactic From Kamala Harris Post-Border Visit, Helene
