President Joe Biden praised Florida's Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday saying he has been “cooperative” with his administration as Hurricane Milton bears down on the Sunshine State.
“The governor of Florida has been cooperative. He said he’s gotten all that he needs. I talked to him again yesterday,” Biden said at the White House before heading to Wisconsin and Pennsylvania to campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris.
On Monday, it was widely reported that DeSantis had refused to accept any calls from Harris because “they seemed” political, according to a DeSantis aide. DeSantis later denied the report saying, "I didn't know that she had called," he said. "I'm not sure who they called. They didn't call me. Their characterization of it was something that they did.
"It wasn't anything that anybody in my office did, in terms of saying it was political."
Harris had previously accused DeSantis of being “utterly irresponsible” and “selfish” for not taking her call last week following the devastating caused by Hurricane Helene.
Biden gave a different account of DeSantis saying, “I literally gave him my personal phone number to call, so, I don’t know — there was a rough start in some places, but every governor, every governor from Florida to North Carolina, has been fully cooperative and supportive and acknowledged what this team is doing.”
DeSantis told Fox News earlier in the day that Harris had never called him before during any of the many hurricanes that have hit Florida during his time in office and noted he’s worked with both Biden and former President Donald Trump in the past.
“Why all of the sudden is she trying to parachute in and inject herself when she’s never shown any interest in the past? We know it’s because of politics, we know it’s because of her campaign. I have zero time to entertain these political games. We’re going to continue to do what we need to do to prepare and respond to what may be one of the most damaging storms in the history of the United States,” DeSantis said.
The National Weather Service in Tampa Bay has said Milton could be the worst storm to hit the city in more than 100 years. Forecasters suggest the hurricane will make landfall near Tampa Bay as a Category 3 late Wednesday or early Thursday morning.