On Wednesday, President Joe Biden addressed the nation about the looming threat of Hurricane Milton, which had already begun impacting Florida’s coastline. During the press conference, a reporter asked whether Florida Governor Ron DeSantis should have taken Vice President Kamala Harris’ calls regarding hurricane recovery efforts. Rather than directly addressing the tension between DeSantis and Harris, Biden chose to praise DeSantis for his cooperation, saying he found him to be “gracious” in their interactions, and appreciated his acknowledgment of the federal response.
At the time, Biden was reportedly unaware of the ongoing dispute between DeSantis and Harris. According to sources, Biden had not been briefed on the matter before the press conference. The tension between DeSantis and Harris had made headlines for several days after it was reported that DeSantis refused to take a call from Harris regarding Hurricane Helene’s impact on Florida. DeSantis had accused Harris of attempting to “politicize the storm,” while Harris criticized DeSantis for being “utterly irresponsible” and “selfish.”
During his televised address, Biden emphasized the seriousness of Hurricane Milton, which had escalated to a Category 3 storm with winds reaching 120 mph. He warned that it could become one of the most destructive hurricanes Florida had seen in over a century. He also took the opportunity to condemn the spread of misinformation surrounding the recovery efforts from Hurricane Helene, specifically calling out former President Donald Trump for promoting false claims.
Biden’s remarks about DeSantis stood in contrast to Harris’ earlier comments. Harris had expressed disappointment at how political disagreements were overshadowing the urgent need for cooperation during a time of crisis. She urged leaders to put the needs of the people first and avoid political games, describing such behavior during a disaster as irresponsible.
Biden’s decision to not address the conflict between Harris and DeSantis was not meant as a slight against Harris. After all, he had endorsed her as the Democratic presidential nominee following his decision to step down from the race in July. A source familiar with the situation explained that Biden was focused on the disaster response and had not been informed of the details of the exchange between Harris and DeSantis.
Meanwhile, DeSantis continued to criticize Harris during an appearance on Fox News. He accused her of politicizing the disaster recovery for her campaign, saying he had previously worked well with both President Trump and President Biden during storms, but claimed Harris was the first to turn a natural disaster into a political issue. DeSantis stressed that he had no time for political games while managing the ongoing recovery efforts in Florida.