Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is not taking calls from Vice President Kamala Harris about storm recovery just over a week after Hurricane Helen struck parts of his state.
A source familiar with the situation said he was dodging the Democratic presidential candidate’s calls because they “seemed political,” according to a DeSantis aide.
“Kamala was trying to communicate, and we didn’t respond,” a DeSantis aide told NBC News.
DeSantis has been in direct contact with Federal Emergency Management Director Deanne Criswell.
At a news conference Monday afternoon, DeSantis denied refusing to return Harris’ call.
“I didn’t know she called,” he said. “I’m not sure who they called. They didn’t call me. Their description of it was something they did. No one in my office was doing anything, 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 the 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 the governor’s right to talk to, right?”
She said the White House invited DeSantis to survey storm damage with President Joe Biden.
“It was his decision… not to attend or not to be with the president… it was up to him,” she added. “We’re doing our part, in the Biden-Harris administration, working — obviously FEMA is working — on the ground, all hands on deck, whole of government. A robust approach here. And so, again, that’s the responsibility of Governor DeSantis.” talk to.”
Later in the day, Harris also addressed this report, saying: “Moments of crisis, if nothing else, should be the moment when anyone who calls themselves a leader says they are going to put politics aside and put people first. People are in “There is a desperate need for support now and they are playing political games at this moment in these crisis situations, and this is the height of emergencies. It is completely irresponsible and it is selfish.”
On Monday evening, the White House issued a statement saying the president spoke to both DeSantis and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor about Hurricanes Helen and Milton.
Last week, DeSantis said Biden called him, but he was traveling at the time so he couldn’t take the call. Biden was in northern Florida last week to inspect storm damage, but DeSantis was holding a news conference already scheduled in another part of the state, so they did not meet. A source familiar with the planning said the Biden team invited DeSantis to the event in northern Florida.
The White House said in its statement that Biden “asked the governor and mayor to contact him directly if there is anything that can be done to further support response and recovery efforts.”
Hurricane Helen made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend area on September 27, devastating some of the state’s rural North Florida counties and flooding cities along the Gulf Coast with storm surge. Many of those cities, including the densely populated Tampa area, are still facing significant damage from flooding and debris removal.
After making landfall, Helen’s remains continued to make their way across the Southeast, killing more than 200 people and inundating the region, including historic floods in western North Carolina.
In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Helen, DeSantis said “we’ve got a handle on it,” referring to storm cleanup, and that the federal government should focus on North Carolina.
Other governors offered more praise for the federal response, with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp saying he spoke to Biden and thanking him for the help, and South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, also a Republican, saying it was “wonderful.”
In what was 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 Hurricane Milton to make landfall midweek, a major storm expected to impact large swaths of the state, including coastal cities that were inundated by Hurricane Helen.
That storm is expected to make landfall on the central portion of Florida’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday.
So far, Biden has made no effort to reach out to the governor about Hurricane Milton, two other officials in DeSantis’ office said.
Former President Donald Trump spoke about Hurricane Helen at length, and at times in overtly political terms — including spreading false information. At one point, he claimed on social media that a photo Harris posted on social media for a storm briefing was “fake and temporary.”
Trump visited Georgia in the days following the storm and appeared at an event with Kemp. He also launched a GoFundMe to help organizations doing relief work in the area.
