President Joe Biden on Saturday morning presented his first on-camera response to his meeting with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis falling via as he surveys Hurricane Idalia damage.
“I don’t know,” Biden stated in line with a shouted query as he and the primary woman boarded Marine One about what happened with his meeting with the governor. “He’s not going to be there.”
Biden stated Saturday morning that his message to DeSantis is: “We’re gonna take care of Florida.”
Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell stated Saturday that safety issues expressed through DeSantis’ place of work Friday weren’t relayed to FEMA staffers.
“I have teams that have been on the ground since I left, and we have heard no concerns over any impact to the communities we’re going to visit today,” Criswell stated Saturday.
In this Nov. 14, 2022, report photograph, President Joe Biden speaks at a news convention. | Florida Governor and Republican U.S. president candidate attends a barbeque in Rye, N.H.
Alex Brandon/AP | Reba Saldanha/Reuters
The respectable’s remark comes after DeSantis’s place of work stated he would now not meet with Biden, mentioning the disruptive impact a presidential safety element can have at the restoration effort.
“We don’t have any plans for the Governor to meet with the President tomorrow,” DeSantis’ press secretary, Jeremy Redfern, stated to ABC News in a commentary Friday. “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.”
Asked Saturday morning, “Do you agree with him that the security apparatus isn’t strong enough?” Biden smiled and requested, “Do you?”
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre stated on Saturday that the invite to the governor nonetheless stands.
“Of course he is welcome to be with the president today,” she stated.
The two political leaders put aside politics final yr when Biden traveled to Florida to survey damage from Hurricane Ian — however that was once prior to DeSantis introduced his 2024 marketing campaign.
ABC News has reached out to DeSantis’ place of work for remark.
In this Oct. 5, 2022, report photograph, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, his spouse Casey, President Joe Biden, and First Lady Jill Biden chat right through a talk over with to impacted spaces through Hurricane Ian at Fishermans Pass in Fort Myers, Fla.
Olivier Douliery/AFP by the use of Getty Images, FILE
Although DeSantis is probably not noticed with Biden right through his talk over with to the Sunshine State, Sen. Rick Scott and Rep. Kat Cammack, each Florida Republicans, shall be.
Scott, who’s up for reelection subsequent yr, announced on Twitter he can be in Suwannee County with Biden to obtain a briefing from native officers and meet with households impacted through Hurricane Idalia. Scott additionally stated he would urge Biden to make stronger his law, The Federal Disaster Responsibility Act, including that Floridians and Americans would take pleasure in its passage.
ABC News has reached out to Sen. Marco Rubio’s, R-Fla., place of work to peer whether or not he’ll additionally sign up for Biden as he excursions the state.
post credit to Source link