President Biden canceled a scheduled overseas trip Tuesday to oversee the federal government's storm preparedness and response efforts, as the second powerful hurricane hits Florida in less than two weeks.
A week and a half after Hurricane Helen tore a path of destruction through the southeastern United States, the death toll continues to rise and nearly 200,000 people remain without power or running water. hurricane milton A highly dangerous Category 4 storm is expected to make landfall in Florida on Wednesday.
“Given the projected path and strength of Hurricane Milton, President Biden is committed to overseeing preparations and response to Hurricane Milton, in addition to the continued response to the impacts of Hurricane Helen across the Southeast. , we are postponing our upcoming trips to Germany and Angola,'' White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement Tuesday.
The president was scheduled to leave for Berlin on Thursday, then stop in Angola before returning home on October 15. The trip was supposed to be Biden's first trip to the African continent during his presidency.
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President Biden (center) speaks about the federal response to Hurricane Helen and preparations for Hurricane Milton in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Tuesday, October 8, 2024 in Washington, DC. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The president told reporters Tuesday that Milton is a potentially “catastrophic” storm that could be one of the worst to hit Florida in 100 years. He also urged people who have been ordered to evacuate to “evacuate now, now, now.''
“This is a matter of life and death,” Bien stressed.
Biden also said he spoke with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday, adding that the conservative governor was cooperative and gave DeSantis his personal phone number.
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Asked about the federal government's response to the storm, DeSantis said at a news conference Monday: “We got what we needed from the federal government…The president approved what we asked for…and thank you for that.” “I am doing so,” he said.
“Everything we've asked President Biden to do, he's approved,” DeSantis said.
The governor repeated those comments Tuesday morning in an interview on “Fox & Friends.”
“Every request we've made, I've been in communication with the president, I've been in communication with the FEMA director,” DeSantis stressed. “All of our requests were met.”
As Hurricane Milton batters Florida, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis held multiple storm preparedness press conferences on October 7, 2024. (Florida Governor's Office)
While DeSantis praised the president's actions, he criticized Vice President Kamala Harris. The Democratic presidential candidate on Monday called the governor “selfish” in response to reports that the governor had refused to take calls regarding federal storm preparedness.
When asked about the controversy, DeSantis said in an interview on Fox & Friends, “My focus wasn't on how to deal with Kamala Harris. I saw the reports. She was trying to contact me. “I didn't know that,” he insisted. I also say it's not about you, Kamala, and that's exactly where my focus is. ”
“I've worked on these hurricanes under both President Trump and President Biden, and neither of them ever tried to politicize the hurricanes, from the time she became vice president until now. We've never called in any of the hurricanes we've had. Why do we have so many?'' She never showed any interest before, and then suddenly she parachuted in. Are you trying to inject yourself? We know it's because of political activity. I don't have time for these political games. '' DeSantis criticized.
For the latest FOX News weather updates on Hurricane Milton, go here.
The war of words appeared to be triggered Monday afternoon by NBC and later ABC News reports that the Florida governor did not respond to calls from Harris about storm recovery efforts, citing an unnamed aide to the governor. He was quoted as saying the call was political in nature.
Asked hours later, DeSantis said he had no idea Harris was trying to contact him.
“I didn't know she called. I don't know who she called. They didn't call me,” he said. “In terms of being political, it's not something that anyone in my office did.”
Around the same time, the vice president took aim at DeSantis as she left the nation's capital for New York.
“People desperately need help right now, and playing politics at this moment of crisis is… totally irresponsible and selfish,” Harris said. “This is about political gamesmanship, not doing the job we are sworn to do to put the people first.”
Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris arrives at LaGuardia Airport in New York, Monday, October 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Jacqueline Martin)
But DeSantis fired back in an interview with Fox News, saying, “Harris isn't even in the chain of command. She has no role in this. When I'm focused on work… The idea that we should be worried about…'' What we are seeing now is frankly ridiculous. ”
Asked if the vice president had helped the federal government deal with a series of dangerous hurricanes, Biden nodded and told reporters, “Yes.”
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“I've been on the phone and talking with Democratic and Republican governors throughout this crisis and this recent crisis…so obviously… This is different,” he said. It's a matter of partisanship and politics for certain leaders, but it may be a problem for other leaders as well. ”
With four weeks left until November's election day, Harris and former President Donald Trump are locked in a race to succeed Biden in the White House and a tight margin of error between Helen and the two hardest-hit states. A range showdown was settled. The politics of federal disaster relief are once again at the center of campaigns in North Carolina and Georgia, two of the seven major battleground states likely to decide the outcome of the 2024 election.
For a week and a half, President Trump has repeatedly attacked Biden and Harris over the federal response to Hurricane Helen, making baseless claims.
On Monday, Harris pushed back against Trump, accusing him of pushing “a lot of misinformation and disinformation.”
FOX News' Nick Rojas contributed to this article.
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