CNN –
Ron DeSantis and Joe Biden spoke Monday night after reports that Florida’s Republican governor declined calls from the president and Vice President Kamala Harris as officials continue hurricane recovery efforts and prepare for another hurricane to make landfall later this week, the White House said.
“Tonight, POTUS spoke with @GovRonDeSantis and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor for a report on Hurricane Helen recovery efforts and Hurricane Milton preparations,” Emily Simmons, White House senior assistant press secretary, said Monday in an X post, which is expected. To make landfall in Florida on Wednesday.
“He has asked both to contact him directly if anything can be done to further support response and recovery efforts,” Simmons added.
A White House official told CNN that Harris has reached out to DeSantis several times in the time since Hurricane Helen reached his state, but the governor has not returned the vice president’s calls. When Biden visited Florida last week to inspect storm damage on the ground, DeSantis declined to join him, instead holding a news conference with reporters four hours south of the area the president toured.
“We invited the governor to come and survey the affected areas with the president — obviously we were in Florida, we invited the governor of Florida to come, and it was his decision not to come or not to come with the plan,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters earlier Monday. “The President has communicated about Hurricane Helen. It’s up to the governor. It’s really up to the governor.”
DeSantis told reporters Monday that he was unaware of the vice president’s outreach, claiming at a news conference in Tallahassee, “I didn’t know she contacted me.”
The governor said he was grateful to Biden for agreeing to everything they needed so far, adding that if they needed additional help, he “wouldn’t hesitate” to contact him.
“We want to use any resources available to be able to help Floridians prepare for and respond to this storm. “But everything we’ve asked of President Biden has been approved, and we believe we’ll get more approvals for some individual assistance and post-landing debris removal,” DeSantis said.
Harris also responded to reports that DeSantis did not return her calls on Monday, saying that “moments of crisis, if nothing else, should really be the moment when anyone who calls themselves a leader says they’re going to put politics aside and put people in.” “First place.” “.
“People are in desperate need of support right now, and playing political games at this moment, in these crisis situations — this is the height of emergencies — is completely irresponsible, it’s selfish, and it’s about political games rather than political games.” “I’m doing the job that I swore an oath to do, which is to put people first,” the vice president told reporters on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews.
CNN has reached out to the White House, Harris campaign and DeSantis’ office about details surrounding the communication between Biden, Harris and DeSantis.
NBC News first reported that DeSantis did not return Harris’ calls.
This is not the first time that the Florida governor has avoided meeting with Biden after a natural disaster. In 2023, he refused to meet with Biden on a trip to the state in the wake of Hurricane Idalia, even after the president said he planned to meet with the Republican governor.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell on Sunday reached out to DeSantis to discuss preparations for Hurricane Milton.
“I spoke to him yesterday regarding Milton,” Jean-Pierre said. “We will certainly continue to be pre-positioned on the ground, and we will support communities with whatever they need, at any time. This is our commitment.”
Harris on Monday urged people in the path of Hurricane Milton to heed warnings from state and local officials after she had just spoken with Creswell.
“I can’t stress enough to all the people in Florida, in the Tampa area, please listen to the evacuation orders,” she said. “Please listen to your local officials, because I know a lot of people have weathered these hurricanes before — this hurricane is going to be very dangerous, and I urge you to get everything you need, and listen to the orders. Get it from your local officials.”
Jean-Pierre insisted that the federal government remains focused on disaster recovery in the state regardless of whether DeSantis answers the president’s or vice president’s calls.
“This is something that the governor has to talk to himself about. If you have the president and you have the vice president reaching out to provide assistance to your constituents, people who live in your state, to make sure that we’re doing everything we need to do from the federal response, we’re doing it,” she said. “We are reaching out and offering our support, and that is a matter for the governor, and it is up to him if he wants to respond to us or not.”
“But what we do is we work with state and local officials to make sure that we are prepared in advance to make sure that we are ready to be there for the communities that are going to be impacted — we are getting the job done,” she continued.
The press secretary said federal officials will provide a “strong, whole-of-government” response.
“And anything else, I have to leave it up to the governor for his actions, how he wants to move forward with this.” “That’s for him, that’s a question for the governor,” she said.
This headline and story have been updated with additional details.
CNN’s Kate Maher contributed to this report.
Correction: This story has been updated to accurately reflect where DeSantis held his news conference regarding Biden last week.
