Given President Joe Biden’s history of not rushing to people’s side following a devastating loss, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) has made it clear he doesn't want the president's pity after Hurricane Idalia's landfall.
DeSantis said he has no plans of meeting with Biden during his trip to the affected areas damaged by the storm.
“We don’t have any plans for the governor to meet with the president tomorrow,” DeSantis’ press secretary, Jeremy Redfern, said.
“In these rural communities, and so soon after impact, the security preparations alone that would go into setting up such a meeting would shut down ongoing recovery efforts.”
However, Biden contradicted Redfern’s statement, telling reporters he would meet with the governor during his trip.
White House Homeland Security Adviser Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall also suggested the president would sit down with DeSantis to discuss recovery efforts.
“We’re just planning the visit, but I will say that every time I’ve been to Florida with the president, he has met, of course, with Gov. DeSantis and traveled the disaster zone, whether it’s from last year’s hurricane or when the Surfside condominium building collapsed,” she said, adding that the two 2024 hopefuls are “collegial when we have the work to do together of helping Americans in need.”
On the contrary, DeSantis argued Biden’s trip could be “very disruptive” to recovery efforts.
“One thing I did mention to him on the phone is where these communities [are] — the hardest-hit communities — it would be very disruptive to have the whole security apparatus that goes because there are only so many ways to get into these places,” DeSantis said.
Biden has called on Congress to pass more disaster relief funding, increasing his initial request of $12 billion to $16 billion.