President Joe Biden hadn’t been briefed about a back-and-forth between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Vice President Kamala Harris over hurricane recovery before he praised him as “gracious” in a news conference Wednesday, a source familiar with the situation said.
NBC News first reported on Monday that DeSantis refused to take Harris’ call when she reached out about Hurricane Helene’s impact on Florida. DeSantis charged that Harris was trying to “politicize the storm.” Harris called him “utterly irresponsible” and “selfish.” The spat grabbed headlines for several days.
On Wednesday, Biden delivered a widely televised address warning the public about the potentially catastrophic impact of Hurricane Milton, which began ravaging Florida’s coastline Wednesday night.
A reporter then asked Biden whether DeSantis should be taking Harris’ phone calls. He praised the Republican governor and dodged directly answering the question.
“All I can tell you is, I’ve talked to Gov. DeSantis. He’s been very gracious,” Biden said. “He’s thanked me for all we’ve done. He knows what we’re doing. And I think that’s important.”
During his remarks on Wednesday, Biden emphasized the danger that Milton posed to Florida.
“Milton is a category three with wind speeds up to 120 miles per hour,” Biden said. “But no one should be confused. It’s still expected to be one of the most and worst destructive hurricanes to hit Florida in over a century.”
Biden also castigated those who have spread misinformation and conspiracy theories about Hurricane Helene — and specifically called out former President Donald Trump by name.
Biden’s comments about DeSantis differed from how Harris had characterized him.
“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,” Harris said on Monday. “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.”
That Biden didn’t include a response on Harris was not meant as a jab at the vice president, whom he endorsed as the Democratic nominee to replace him when he stepped aside from the top of the ticket on July 21. Biden had not been briefed on the dynamic involving Harris and DeSantis, the person familiar with the situation said.
“He wasn’t tracking a specific back and forth,” the source said, adding that the president was “focused on the response itself.” The person was granted anonymity to speak freely about the matter.
DeSantis ripped Harris on Fox News this week, charging that it was she who was trying to insert politics into the recovery.
“I’ve had storms under both President Trump and President Biden and I’ve worked well with both of them,” he said. “She’s the first one who’s trying to politicize the storm, and she’s doing that just because of her campaign,” DeSantis added. “I don’t have time for political games.”
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