Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis briefed President Biden on the impact of Hurricane Milton on Thursday morning while criticizing Vice President Kamala Harris, who again criticized President Biden for not answering a phone call earlier this week.
The Sunshine State governor chided Harris for “not understanding what it means to respond to these natural disasters” and again accused her of politicizing the crisis.
“She has no role in this process. And I've been dealing with these storms in Florida. [Donald] with playing cards [President] Biden. Neither of them politicized it.” DeSantis told CNBC's “Squawk Box.” Hours after Milton made landfall as a Category 3 hurricane.
“in fact [during] “Every storm I dealt with during this administration, I worked well with the president, but the president never called me… She never offered assistance,” the Republican stressed. “She's trying to insert herself into this issue for political action.”
Earlier this week, multiple reports surfaced that Harris tried to contact DeSantis late last month in the wake of Hurricane Helen, which made landfall on September 26, but DeSantis' staff declined.
When asked about those reports on Monday, Harris, 59, attacked DeSantis, 46, without mentioning him by name.
“People are in dire need of help right now. It's completely irresponsible and selfish to play politics at this moment, in the midst of a state of emergency,” she told reporters. He told the group.
DeSantis claims he knew nothing about Veep's initial attempt to contact him.
“I don't have time for a game like that,” he said Thursday. “I'm not interested in her campaign, obviously I'm not a supporter of hers.
“For her to say that I should focus on responding to her rather than worrying about my own people means that she understands what it means to respond to these natural disasters. It just shows that it's not.”
More than 3.4 million people in Florida were without power as of Thursday afternoon, according to the state. PowerOutage.us.
While DeSantis took aim at Harris, Biden praised the governor for doing a “great” job preparing for Milton. DeSantis returned the favor by publicly praising Biden for giving the state everything it has ever asked for.
In a Thursday morning phone call, DeSantis explained that state officials were still assessing the extent of the damage caused by Milton, and Biden vowed to continue federal aid, according to a White House statement.
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell also answered the call.
“All I can say is that I spoke to Governor DeSantis,” Biden, 81, told reporters Wednesday. “He was very kind. He appreciated everything we've done. He knows what we're doing and I think that's important.”
Biden toured the damage in Helen, Florida, last week. but we didn't meet DeSantis was holding a press conference about 300 miles away at the time.
Harris took a break from campaigning Wednesday to sit in on a FEMA briefing on Milton, but only raised eyebrows as she appeared distracted by the phone call, then apparently told her staff, “It's live.” I blurted out. .
