Gov. Ron DeSantis said Vice President Kamala Harris has "no role" in hurricane preparedness and clean up after she complained the Florida Republican wouldn't take her calls, The Hill reported. This came after Harris said DeSantis was "selfish" for ignoring her attempts to reach out.
The governor of the Sunshine State has been dealing with back-to-back hurricanes. As the state was still reeling from Hurricane Helene, a more virulent storm named Hurricane Milton was bearing down on the state, headed for a direct hit.
Meanwhile, Harris, desperately trying to appear relevant in the matter for the sake of her presidential campaign, said DeSantis was being "selfish" for refusing to speak with her. DeSantis had strong words after host Andrew Ross Sorkin asked him about it on Thursday's Squawk Box on CNBC.
DeSantis punches back at Kamala. This is a beatdown.pic.twitter.com/KOzjl93mKT
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) October 11, 2024
It's clear DeSantis was fed up with Harris' grousing about their lack of communication while he was busy helping his state during a crisis. "I am working with the President of the United States, I’m working with the director of FEMA, I’m marshaling all my state assets," De Santis responded.
"We’ve been doing this now nonstop for over two weeks between Helene and this. And so if there’s anything I can leverage to benefit my people, I’m going to do it," he added.
Then DeSantis contrasted Harris to both President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump, who never "politicized" hurricane relief. "The fact of the matter is they put out a story saying I didn’t take [her calls]. didn’t even know she was trying to reach me, but she has no role in this process," DeSantis went on.
"And I’ve been dealing with these storms in Florida under both Trump and Biden. Neither of them ever politicized it. And, in fact, all the storms I’ve dealt with under this administration, although I’ve worked well with the president, [Harris] has never called in Florida. She has never offered any support," he added.
"So what she’s doing is, she’s trying to inject herself into this because of her political campaign. So, as the governor here who’s leading this, I don’t have time for those games. I don’t care about her campaign," DeSantis said.
Harris was trying to make DeSantis look like the one using the crises for political gain. Instead, the strategy backfired as people saw how she made herself the story during a hurricane just for political gain.
As DeSantis noted, both Biden and Trump were able to work with him to provide help to the people of Florida. As NBC reported, Biden praised DeSantis when asked about Harris' alleged snub.
"All I can tell you is I’ve talked to Gov. DeSantis. He’s been very gracious. He’s thanked me for all we’ve done," Biden said. "He knows what we’re doing. And I think that’s important."
An anonymous source claims that Biden wasn't aware of the conflict when asked about it. "He wasn’t tracking a specific back-and-forth" because he was too "focused on the response itself."
Harris has made many blunders in the short time she's been campaigning. This public tiff with DeSantis is the worst yet because it shows her true colors.
