A.G. Gancarski
Minutes after excoriating the President for failure to get striking Longshoremen back to work, Gov. Ron DeSantis played dumb when asked why he didn’t voice his objections to the strike and concerns about Hurricane Helene recovery to Joe Biden’s face.
“No reason. We had this planned,” DeSantis said to reporters during a news conference with other state officials in Anna Maria.
This is the second straight storm season in which the Democratic President visited the state, while the Governor, who has pressed the White House to come through on storm recovery, couldn’t be bothered to meet him.
It is unclear why DeSantis couldn’t have scheduled this presser for a different time slot, given he has access to an airplane that quickly gets him anywhere in the state. But the snub continues a deliberate disconnect between the Governor and the President he looked to run against in this election cycle.
After last year’s Hurricane Idalia, DeSantis discouraged Biden from making the trip, saying it would be “very disruptive” to have the President’s “security apparatus” in storm recovery zones. Ultimately, Biden appeared with U.S. Sen. Rick Scott and other prominent political leaders.
The Governor sniped at Biden in absentia, though.
While Biden claimed that “climate change” contributed to tropical turbulence, DeSantis disagreed, saying that storms had strafed Florida historically and that the “notion that somehow hurricanes are something new” is “just false.”
“We’ve got to stop politicizing the weather and stop politicizing natural disasters,” DeSantis said last year.
The Governor and President did interface after 2022’s historic storm, and DeSantis was more complimentary of Biden then.
“You know, he could have tried to politicize it. I’ll give him credit. He didn’t try to politicize it,” DeSantis said regarding Biden’s response to 2022’s Hurricane Ian.
Local officials were left to greet the President in the state capital, where DeSantis has lived for nearly six years, on Thursday as he arrived for an aerial tour of the devastation. Tallahassee Mayor John Dailey, some City Commissioners, and Leon County Sheriff Walt McNeil were on hand.
15 comments
A Day without MAGA
October 3, 2024 at 1:29 pm
He get a do over for Tropical Storm Milton next when it brings tropical rain near the Tampa on the 9th of October
Tom
October 3, 2024 at 1:36 pm
Sounds like he’s just an ungrateful a-hole who can’t manage to get beyond politics. Another tiny little man in an age of tiny little men.
KathrynA
October 3, 2024 at 1:42 pm
This would never have happened and it just makes him look ungrateful and small that he doesn’t recognize the president of the United States and the relief they are helping the state with. Will DeSantis’ term ever end?
Gabino Cuevas
October 3, 2024 at 1:51 pm
Biden is mostly just interested in Ukrainians and illegal migrants. DeSantis is America’s defacto “governor”.
So far this year, the United States has given:
– $24,400,000,000 to Ukraine.
– $11,300,000,000 to Israel.
– $1,950,000,000 to Ethiopia.
– $1,600,000,000 to Jordan.
– $1,400,000,000 to Egypt.
– $1,100,000,000 to Afghanistan.
– $1,100,000,000 to Somalia.
– $1,000,000,000 to Yemen.
– $987,000,000 to Congo.
– $896,000,000 to Syria.
– $9,000 per illegal immigrant that has entered the U.S.
And Americans who have lost everything to Hurricane Helene will be getting $750, courtesy of FEMA.
Dr. Franklin Waters
October 4, 2024 at 12:03 pm
Oh look, somebody else spreading the same exact completely unsubstantiated BS with no sources to back any of this nonsense up. How original.
Do Conservatives even have any original thoughts of their own? Or do they just repost and parrot the same memes and talking points they recieved from others?
MHDuuuval
October 4, 2024 at 5:55 pm
$9,000 per illegal immigrant that has entered the U.S.?
Now please tell us how much money taxpayers have put out for Cuban asylum seekers since 1960 — adjusted for inflation?
And, worth every penny, right?
David Guagliardo
October 8, 2024 at 5:23 pm
Yea that a lie about the $750, nor does anything FEMA does have anything to do with the money America has always used to further American interests in the area of foreign… you clearly are just another MAGA hater who parrots lies.
Tom Palmer
October 3, 2024 at 2:03 pm
Denying climate e change IS politicizing the issue
This close to the election, GOP will go out of their way not to give Dems credit for anything
KathrynA
October 3, 2024 at 8:18 pm
Obviously! Despite the catastrophic proof all around the west part of the state!
Michael K
October 3, 2024 at 8:31 pm
Hey Rhonda: I remember whn you voted against aid to Hurricane Sandy victims when you were in Congress. Hypocrite.
Longshoremen are back on the job.
Will you apologize?
MHDuuuval
October 3, 2024 at 10:39 pm
Dee already made nice with Biden once — once is enough if he wants to keep his MAGA crews burnished.
LexT
October 4, 2024 at 8:01 am
At this point, Biden is essentially a “Weekend at Bernie’s” version. Helene was far more disastrous than anyone foresaw. The two of them coming together might be symbolically “nice”, but in reality it would only intensify politics where everyone should be on the same page to do what is reasonable to help. Disagreements on this should be limited to what is “reasonable”.
Harold Finch
October 4, 2024 at 9:50 am
DeSantis again showed he is all about politics, and snubbing the President shows what a little man with a gigantic ego is all about. This storm affected, republicans, democrats, independets and every other political party, that had people living in the disaster area. Why be so petty and uncooperative when so many peolple need help!
Skeptic
October 4, 2024 at 11:12 am
Another DeSantis tantrum. He had already planned to whine and cry at every opportunity after his political career ended. JD Vance just showed that no matter the results of this election, Ronnie D has no future. Trump wins and JD is dictator for 12 years or Trump loses and JD is the nominee of the Tories in 4 years. Buh-bye Ronnie. You’d be unhappy and vindictive too.
KathrynA
October 4, 2024 at 8:49 pm
The $750.00 mentioned above was for immediate needs our citizens might be needing–not for long term. Does anyone care about the real story or just lies? Why don’t we get together and support those who have lost so much instead of lying and causing more division? This would be what a real American would do.
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