The governor of Floridathe republican Ron DeSantishas refused to answer the phone when called by the American president, Joe Bidenand the vice president, Kamala Harrisabout the hurricane Helenewhich has left 230 dead in the southeast of EUand the Hurricane Miltonwhich will reach Florida this week.
As explained this Monday by the spokesperson for the White House, Karine Jean-Pierre, DeSantis spoke Sunday only with the administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA for its acronym in English), Deanne Criswell.
The chain NBC has reported in the last few hours, citing sources close to DeSantis who has refused to answer Biden y Harris.
It is common for the president of EU telephone governors of states affected by natural disasters to coordinate the provision of aid.
At the press conference of the White House Jean-Pierre defended that the Executive is fulfilling its obligation to help Americans who have been affected by the Hurricane Helene and now they are preparing for the Milton.
“If you have the president and the vice president trying to offer assistance to your constituents, to the people who live in your state, to make sure that we are doing everything we need to do and we are reaching out, offering our support, it is up to the governor to decide whether respond or not”said.
Biden traveled to Florida on Thursday to monitor the damage caused by Helene and did not meet DeSantis because he planned to travel to other parts of the state to see the damage caused by the hurricane, according to what the White House.
At a press conference in Florida, DeSantis confirmed this Monday that he has not spoken by phone or with Biden in Harris.
DeSantis explained that Biden He tried to contact him a couple of days ago, but he couldn’t take the call because he was in a helicopter. Regarding Harris claimed to be unaware of any attempt at communication by the vice president.
“I didn’t know she called, so I’m not sure who they called, but they didn’t contact me,” declared DeSantis who, however, stressed that he has received all the help requested from the federal government.
DeSantis is one of the most prominent figures of the Republican Party. He was for years a fierce ally of Donald Trump who will face Harris in the November 5 election, although the relationship soured when the governor of Florida He competed in the party primaries that the former president ended up winning.
Trump himself has spread disinformation about the federal government’s response to the hurricanes. Last week he even stated that the Executive was not responding to the destruction and that the governor of Georgia, Brian KempI was trying to call Biden on the phone and I couldn’t talk to him.
own Kempof the Republican Partyimmediately denied that this was true and, in fact, praised the federal government’s offer of help
For her part, Harris this Monday was especially forceful when referring to the incident with the governor of Florida.
In statements to the media at Base Aérea Andrewsin Marylandnearly Washingtonconsidered that in times of crisis like the current one it is “when those who call themselves leaders must leave politics aside and put people first.”
“People desperately need support right now, and playing games politicians during crisis situations, at the height of emergencies, is totally irresponsible and selfish. It’s just about political gains.”he pointed out.
Florida, which is still trying to recover from the damage of Heleneis preparing for the largest evacuation since 2017 due to the threat of Hurricane Miltona category 5 with winds of 280 kilometers per hour (175 miles) and that will cross almost the entire state from west to east starting Wednesday.