President Joe Biden is heading to Florida on Saturday for a firsthand look at Hurricane IdaliaB次元官网网址檚 destruction, but he wonB次元官网网址檛 be seeing the stateB次元官网网址檚 Republican governor and 2024 presidential hopeful, Ron DeSantis, who suggested such a meeting could hinder disaster response efforts.
B次元官网网址淲e donB次元官网网址檛 have any plans for the governor to meet with the president,B次元官网网址 DeSantis spokesman Jeremy Redfern said in a statement. B次元官网网址淚n these rural communities, and so soon after impact, the security preparations alone that would go into setting up such a meeting would shut down ongoing recovery efforts.B次元官网网址
Idalia made landfall Wednesday morning along FloridaB次元官网网址檚 sparsely populated Big Bend region as a Category 3 storm, causing widespread flooding and damage before moving north to drench Georgia and the Carolinas. But BidenB次元官网网址檚 visit to see its effects threatened to be engulfed by political clashes since DeSantisB次元官网网址 statement came hours after the president himself earlier Friday that he would be meeting with the governor.
In response to DeSantis eventually preemptively calling off a meeting, White House spokeswoman Emilie Simons said, B次元官网网址淧resident Biden and the first lady look forward to meeting members of the community impacted by Hurricane Idalia and surveying impacts of the storm.B次元官网网址
B次元官网网址淭heir visit to Florida has been planned in close coordinationB次元官网网址 with Federal Emergency Management personnel B次元官网网址渁s well as state and local leaders to ensure there is no impact on response operations,B次元官网网址 Simons said in a statement.
After landing at the airport in Gainesville, Biden is set for an aerial tour on his way to Live Oak for an afternoon briefing on response and recovery efforts and a meeting with federal and local officials and first responders. He then plans to see firsthand the stormB次元官网网址檚 effect on the community and will make remarks afterward.
The political disconnect between both sides is a break from the recent past, since Biden and DeSantis met when the president toured Florida after hit the state last year, and following the in Miami Beach in summer 2021. But DeSantis is now running to unseat Biden, and he only left the Republican presidential primary trail with Idalia barreling toward his state.
can be tricky, meanwhile.
Another 2024 presidential candidate, former Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, has long been widely criticized in GOP circles for embracing then-President Barack Obama during a tour of damage 2012B次元官网网址檚 Hurricane Sandy did to his state. Christie was even asked about the incident last month, during the .
Both Biden and DeSantis at first suggested that helping storm victims would outweigh partisan differences. But the governor began suggesting that a presidential trip would complicate response logistics as the week wore on.
B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 a time and a place to have political season,B次元官网网址 the governor said before Idalia made landfall. B次元官网网址淏ut then thereB次元官网网址檚 a time and a place to say that this is something thatB次元官网网址檚 life threatening, this is something that could potentially cost somebody their life, it could cost them their livelihood.B次元官网网址
By Friday, the governor was telling reporters of Biden, B次元官网网址渙ne thing I did mention to him on the phoneB次元官网网址 was B次元官网网址渋t would be very disruptive to have the whole security apparatus that goesB次元官网网址 with the president B次元官网网址渂ecause there are only so many ways to get intoB次元官网网址 many of the hardest hit areas.
B次元官网网址淲hat we want to do is make sure that the power restoration continues and the relief efforts continue and we donB次元官网网址檛 have any interruption in that,B次元官网网址 DeSantis said.
Biden joked while delivering pizzas to workers at FEMAB次元官网网址檚 Washington headquarters on Thursday that heB次元官网网址檇 spoken to DeSantis so frequently about Idalia that B次元官网网址渢here should be a direct dialB次元官网网址 between the pair. Homeland Security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall pointed to the experiences after Ian and Surfside collapse in saying earlier this week that Biden and DeSantis B次元官网网址渁re very collegial when we have the work to do together of helping Americans in need, citizens of Florida in need.B次元官网网址
The post-Idalia political consequences are high for both men.
As Biden seeks reelection, the White House has asked for to address natural disasters as part of its supplemental funding request to Congress. That would bring the total to $16 billion and highlight that wildfires, flooding and hurricanes have intensified during a period of climate change, imposing ever higher costs on U.S. taxpayers.
DeSantis has built his White House bid around dismantling what he calls DemocratsB次元官网网址 . The governor also frequently draws applause at GOP rallies by declaring that itB次元官网网址檚 time to send B次元官网网址淛oe Biden back to his basement,B次元官网网址 a reference to the DemocratB次元官网网址檚 Delaware home, where during the early lockdowns of the .
But four months before the first ballots are to be cast in IowaB次元官网网址檚 caucuses, DeSantis still lags far behind , the Republican primaryB次元官网网址檚 dominant early front-runner. And he has cycled through repeated campaign leadership shakeups and reboots of his image in an attempt to refocus his message.
The super PAC supporting DeSantisB次元官网网址 candidacy also has halted its door-knocking operations in Nevada, which votes third on the Republican presidential primary calendar, and several states holding Super Tuesday primaries in March B次元官网网址 a further sign of trouble.
Will Weissert, The Associated Press