(LibertySociety.com) – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis harshly criticized Vice President Kamala Harris this week, accusing her of trying to politicize the response to Hurricanes Helene and Milton. The conflict began when an NBC News reporter, known for bias against DeSantis, claimed the governor was not taking Harris’s calls regarding the storms, alleging that the calls appeared “political” in nature. Harris quickly responded, accusing DeSantis of “playing political games” and neglecting his duties during a crisis.
In a statement to reporters, Harris argued, “In these crisis situations — these are the height of emergency situations — it 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 to put the people first.”
DeSantis, however, was quick to dismiss these claims during a press conference. He explained that he never received any call from Harris and had no knowledge of the outreach, questioning the source of the NBC report. “I didn’t know that she had called, so I’m not sure who they called. They didn’t call me,” he said, pointing out that his office had not characterized her calls as political.
In an interview later that night, DeSantis fired back at the notion that he was being “selfish” for focusing solely on Florida’s recovery efforts, calling Harris’s comments “delusional.” He argued that Harris had played no role in disaster response during her three and a half years as vice president, contrasting this with his working relationships during both the Trump and Biden administrations.
“She has no role in this process,” DeSantis said, emphasizing that he has successfully handled storms with support from both President Biden and former President Trump. “She’s the first one who’s trying to politicize the storm, and she’s doing that just because of her campaign. She knows she’s doing poorly, and so she’s playing these political games.”
The governor reiterated that his priority was the well-being of Floridians. “I don’t have time for political games. I’ve got people whose lives are on the line. I’ve got people whose homes and their possessions are on the line, and we are focused 100% on that mission.”
During another interview the following day, DeSantis doubled down, telling Harris that the crisis was about the people of Florida, not about her. “It’s not about you, Kamala, it’s about the people of Florida,” he said, again pointing out that she had never involved herself in previous storm responses until now, and he saw this as a political move tied to her campaign.
DeSantis concluded by stating that he had received good support from President Biden but added that Harris is “not even in the chain of command” when it comes to disaster response. He dismissed the notion of engaging with her further, calling it “absurd” and saying, “I have zero time to entertain these political games.”
Copyright 2024, LibertySociety.com
