The Daily Populous Tuesday October 8th, 2024 morning edition
Authored by nbcnews.com and submitted by nbcnews

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is not taking calls from Vice President Kamala Harris about storm recovery just over a week after Hurricane Helene hammered parts of his state.

A source familiar with the situation said he was dodging the Democratic presidential nominee’s calls because they “seemed political,” according to a DeSantis aide.

“Kamala was trying to reach out, and we didn’t answer,” the DeSantis aide told NBC News.

DeSantis has been in direct contact with Federal Emergency Management Director Deanne Criswell.

At a press conference Monday afternoon, DeSantis denied that he refused to take Harris' call.

"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."

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has not spoken with Vice President Kamala Harris or President Joe Biden about the hurricane response. Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images file

Asked about NBC News' report Monday afternoon and whether politics was seeping into the hurricane response, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, "That's really for the governor to speak to, right?"

She said the White House invited DeSantis to survey the storm damage with President Joe Biden.

"It was his decision ... to not attend or not be there with the president. ... It is up to him," she added. "We are doing our part, in the Biden-Harris administration, working — obviously FEMA is work — is on the ground, all hands on deck, whole of government. Robust approach here. And so, again, that's for Gov. DeSantis to speak to."

Later in the day, Harris also addressed this report, saying, "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 with this moment in these crisis situations, these are the height of emergency situations, it's just utterly irresponsible and it is selfish."

On Monday evening, the White House put out a statement saying the president had spoken to both DeSantis and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor about Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

Last week, DeSantis said Biden had called him, but he was flying at the time so could not take the call. Biden was in north Florida last week to survey storm damage, but DeSantis was holding a press conference that had already been scheduled in another part of the state, so they did not meet. A source familiar with the planning said that the Biden team had invited DeSantis to the event in north Florida.

Biden "asked the Governor and the Mayor to call him directly if there is anything that can be done to further support the response and recovery efforts," the White House said in its statement.

Hurricane Helene made landfall on Florida’s Big Bend region on Sept. 27, devastating some of the state’s rural north Florida counties and swamping cities along the Gulf Coast with storm surge. Many of those cities, including the heavily populated Tampa region, are still dealing with significant flood damage and debris removal.

After landfall, remnants of Helene continued to cut a path through the Southeast, leaving more than 200 dead and swamping the region, including historic flooding in western North Carolina.

In Helene’s immediate aftermath, DeSantis said that “we have it handled” in reference to storm cleanup and that the federal government should focus on North Carolina.

Other governors have offered more praise for the federal response, with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp saying he had spoken to Biden and thanked him for the assistance, and South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, also a Republican, saying it had been “superb.”

In what he dubbed Operation Blue Ridge, DeSantis also sent Florida resources to North Carolina, including members of the Florida National Guard and officials from several state agencies.

Over the weekend, DeSantis said those assets are now returning to Florida as the state expects a midweek landfall of Hurricane Milton, a major storm that is expected to affect huge swaths of the state, including coastal cities flooded by Hurricane Helene.

That storm is expected to make landfall in the central portion of Florida’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday.

Two other officials with DeSantis’ office said that so far, there has been no effort by Biden to reach out to the governor on Hurricane Milton.

Former President Donald Trump has talked about Hurricane Helene at length, and at times in overt political terms — including pushing false information. At one point he claimed on social media that a photo Harris had posted on social media getting a storm briefing was “FAKE and STAGED.”

Trump visited Georgia in the days after the storm and appeared at an event with Kemp. He also launched a GoFundMe to help organizations doing relief work in the region.

Effective_Corner694 on October 7th, 2024 at 17:53 UTC »

So the article says that DeSantis has not spoken to VP Harris or President Biden. He was invited to President Biden’s touring of north Florida and the press conference but he insisted on having a press conference at some other part of the state. When called by President Biden, he claimed he was flying and could not talk the call. Really, Ron? However his office said that he has been talking with the FEMA director. Perhaps the next call he makes to the FEMA director, the director can conference in with Biden and Harris.

AudibleNod on October 7th, 2024 at 17:30 UTC »

> An aide to the Florida governor said Harris' call "seemed political" and that she "was trying to reach out, and we didn't answer."

It's only political if, like MTG, you believe that the hurricane was created by Democrats. There's a lot of grandstanding any candidate can do during a disaster. Especially if that candidate isn't in office. VP Harris wants Florida votes, to be sure. But, like many rational politicians, she also wants to help people because they're people. If I had people in my state in need, I'd take the call.

yhwhx on October 7th, 2024 at 17:25 UTC »

Ron DeSantis is a major asshole.