DeSantis and Biden discuss storm recovery after GOP governor’s failure to return presidential and vice presidential calls.

In response to reports that the Republican governor of Florida had declined calls from the president and Vice President Kamala Harris, the White House announced that Ron DeSantis and Joe Biden had a conversation on Monday night. This comes as officials continue to work on recovering from the effects of Hurricane Irma and prepare for another hurricane to make landfall later by the end of this week.

According to a post that was published on X on Monday, senior assistant press secretary Emilie Simons stated that “Tonight, @POTUS spoke with @GovRonDeSantis and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor to get a report on recovery efforts for Hurricane Helene and preparations for Hurricane Milton.” Hurricane Milton is expected to make landfall in Florida on Wednesday.

Simons continued by saying, “He requested that both of them call him directly if there is anything that can be done to further support the response and recovery efforts.”

An official from the White House informed CNN that Harris had attempted to contact DeSantis on many occasions in the period of time that had passed since Hurricane Helene made landfall in his state; however, the governor had not responded to the calls that were made by the vice president. DeSantis did not accompany Vice President Biden on his trip to Florida last week to assess the damage caused by the storm. Instead, he held a press conference with media four hours south of the area that the president toured.

“We invited the governor, right, to come and survey the damage areas with the president – obviously, we were in Florida, we invited the governor of Florida to come, it was his decision not, to not attend or not be there with the president,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said to reporters earlier on Monday. “We invited the governor to come and survey the damage areas with the president.” Regarding Hurricane Helene, the president has made contact with the public. This is what he did. It is up to the governor, and the governor actually has the last say in the matter.

During a press event in Tallahassee on Monday, DeSantis stated to reporters that he was unaware of the vice president’s efforts to contact him. He stated, “I didn’t know she called me.”

In addition to expressing gratitude to Biden for granting approval for all they have need up to this point, the governor stated that he “will not hesitate” to contact him in the event that they require additional assistance.

Our goal is to make use of any and all resources that are at our disposal in order to assist Floridians in getting ready for and responding to this storm. According to DeSantis, “But everything that we have asked for from President Biden, he has approved, and we do think that we will get more approvals for some of the individual assistance and the debris removal after the landfall.”

As a further response to the accusations that DeSantis was not picking up her phone calls on Monday, Harris stated that “moments of crisis, if nothing else, should really be the moment that anyone who calls themselves a leader says they are going to put politics aside and put the people first.”

“People are in desperate need of support right now, and playing political games at this moment, in these crisis situations – these are the height of emergency situations – is just utterly irresponsible, and it is selfish, and it is about political gamesmanship instead of doing the job that you took an oath to do, which is putting the people first,” the vice president told reporters on the tarmac at Joint Base Andrews.

During the later hours of Monday, DeSantis stated to Fox News that Harris “has no role in this process.” My communication with the President of the United States of America is ongoing. I am in communication with the director of FEMA. Obviously, I am in charge of overseeing all of our state agencies. We are providing support to all of our local governments.

Another statement made by the governor was as follows: “She is being self-centered by trying to blunder into this when we are functioning perfectly.”

The White House, the Harris campaign, and the office of DeSantis have all been contacted by CNN in an effort to obtain information regarding the outreach that took place between Biden, Harris, and DeSantis.

The news regarding DeSantis’ refusal to receive Harris’ calls was initially published by NBC News.

There have been previous instances in which the governor of Florida has chosen not to meet with Vice President Biden in the aftermath of a natural disaster. Even after the president stated that he intended to meet with the Republican governor, he passed up the opportunity to meet with Vice President Joe Biden during his trip to the state in 2023, which was in response to Hurricane Idalia.

During their conversation on Sunday, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell and DeSantis discussed the preparations that were being made for Hurricane Milton.

According to Jean-Pierre, who made the statement earlier on Monday, “She spoke with him yesterday in regards to Milton.” Additionally, we are going to continue to pre-position ourselves on the ground, and we are going to provide the communities with whatever it is that they require at any time. In that regard, we are committed.

On Monday, Harris urged residents who were in the path of Hurricane Milton to pay attention to the warnings that were issued by state and municipal officials. This came after Harris had just finished speaking with Criswell.

I cannot urge enough to all of the people in Florida, particularly those in the Tampa area, that they should pay attention to the evacuation orders,” she stated. I want to urge you to please just get whatever you need and listen to the orders that you are getting from your local officials. I know that a lot of people out there have survived hurricanes in the past, and I know that this one is going to be very, very serious. Please consider listening to your local officials.

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Regardless of whether or not DeSantis takes calls from the president or vice president, Jean-Pierre stressed that the federal government will continue to concentrate on catastrophe recovery efforts in the state.

The press secretary stated that in reaction to the situation, federal officials will deliver a “robust all-government” response.