Gov. DeSantis says FDEM has reached out to California to help with fire recovery

Ron DeSantis' plan to take control of the Reedy Creek Improvement District meets union resistance.

As wildfires rage in California, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration has offered help to the Golden State.

“We immediately offered assistance,” DeSantis said on “Fox & Friends.”

“The Florida Division of Emergency Management is in contact with California’s emergency management agency and as there’s requests that come down the pike, we will fulfill those requests. And this is not something that’s unusual amongst the states. We’ve provided support to California in the past when they’ve had wildfires. We’ve had states support us.”

DeSantis noted that politics falls by the wayside when it comes to mutual aid.

“States do have a very good track record in this country of working together, and it’s not just Republican Governors,” he added. “I mean, Democrat Governors have helped Florida. We helped Democrat Governors. Those are Americans’ homes (that) have gone in blaze. They’re from different political persuasions, but we have the responsibility as Americans to come together.”

As the Los Angeles area is beset by howling winds and rapidly spreading wildfires, the second-term Republican leader of the Sunshine State offered on Wednesday whatever assistance is needed to California Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Golden State.

“Our prayers are with everyone affected by the horrific fires in Southern California. When disaster strikes, we must come together to help our fellow Americans in any way we can. The state of Florida has offered help to assist the people of California in responding to these fires,” DeSantis posted to X.

However, the political double standard of coverage of Democratic California’s issues and commensurate ones in GOP-controlled Florida is not lost on DeSantis, who has expressed frustration over media framing.

“If Newsom was a Republican, you would have him nailed to the wall for what they’re doing over there,” DeSantis said Thursday. “We just assume in Florida anytime something happens, it’s going to be politicized by the media.”

“When I got elected Gov., I was meeting with other Republican Governors and what they would say, if you have a natural disaster coming at you, they’re going to do it,” he added, referring to media attacks.

From there, he pointed out that if Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass were Republican, he “could only imagine what (the media) would do” if she left during a disaster.

“I mean, you know the fires are at high risk and you try to go to Africa or wherever she was to go, on some type of voyage? You should have been there preparing and doing that, and yet I don’t see a lot of heat being directed in that thing,” DeSantis argued.

“I just would like to see some balance on how this is done. You criticize the President-elect, but I think you also have to hold these other people accountable, and I have not seen that.”