DeSantis takes fresh pot shot at Harris after Hurricane Milton strikes

Dave Goldiner, New York Daily News on Oct 10, 2024

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took a fresh pot shot at Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday on the morning after Hurricane Milton ripped through the state.

The Republican governor defended his decision not to take calls from Harris, saying the vice president should not “inject herself” into the storm response and recovery effort.

“She’s trying to inject herself into this because of her political campaign,” DeSantis said. “So as the governor here who’s leading this, I don’t have time for those games.”

DeSantis said he is snubbing Harris but has spoken to President Biden and officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

“She has no role in this process,” DeSantis said. “I’m working with the people I need to be working with.”

Harris has played a major role alongside Biden in the recovery from Hurricane Helene in several states and the ongoing response to Milton in Florida.

After DeSantis failed to take Harris’ calls earlier this week, the Democratic presidential nominee called it political gamesmanship.

“Playing political games with this moment in these crisis situations, these are the height of emergency situations, it’s just utterly irresponsible and it is selfish,” Harris said.

Biden and Harris say they are committed to working with state and local officials regardless of whether they are Democrats or Republicans.

They have slammed former President Trump for spreading misinformation about the recovery efforts, including falsely claiming the federal government took money from FEMA to assist undocumented immigrants.

He also accused the feds of only giving survivors $750, when that is only an initial emergency grant to victims and nothing close to all the assistance available.

Some far right-wing lawmakers like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene have even falsely accused the government of somehow intentionally creating or strengthening the hurricanes as a political tool to punish red-leaning states like Florida.