Biden Won’t Meet DeSantis in Florida as He Tours Hurricane Idalia Damage

President Biden stated on Friday that he would meet with Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida on Saturday throughout a go to to tour the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia, the Class 3 storm that hit the state’s Gulf Coast and swept throughout the Southeast this week.

However Mr. DeSantis’s workplace stated Friday that the governor had no such plans.

The bizarre miscue between the 2 chief executives — and potential 2024 rivals — got here after Mr. Biden stated throughout a go to to FEMA headquarters in Washington on Thursday that he would head south to see the harm.

“By the best way, I’m going to Florida,” Mr. Biden stated. “I’m going to Florida Saturday morning.”

The announcement had set in movement a flurry of exercise on the White Home, with aides and the Secret Service instantly planning for a go to to flood-ravaged communities in Florida.

Whereas Mr. Biden didn’t present particulars concerning the journey, throughout an occasion on the White Home Friday morning he responded to a reporter’s query about whether or not he deliberate to see Mr. DeSantis in Florida, saying merely, “Sure.”

Mr. DeSantis’s workplace stated in any other case.

“We don’t have any plans for the governor to fulfill with the president tomorrow,” Jeremy Redfern, the governor’s press secretary, stated later within the day on Friday. “In these rural communities, and so quickly after impression, the safety preparations alone that may go into establishing such a gathering would shut down ongoing restoration efforts.”

Requested on Friday night time concerning the assertion from the governor’s workplace, a White Home official, who was not licensed to debate non-public conversations between the president and the governor, stated: “The president knowledgeable the governor yesterday earlier than his go to to FEMA. The governor didn’t categorical issues at the moment. The go to was intently coordinated with FEMA, state and native officers to make sure there isn’t any impression to ongoing response operations.”

Storms can generally make for unusual bedfellows, particularly when a president from one political celebration is named to assist a governor who may in any other case be considered one of his harshest critics. On this case, the dynamics are amplified, as Mr. DeSantis has been searching for the nomination to run towards Mr. Biden in 2024.

As Hurricane Idalia approached after which swept by Florida this week, Mr. DeSantis had 4 cellphone calls with Mr. Biden, which either side described as productive — a stark change from how Mr. DeSantis talks concerning the president on the marketing campaign path.

Mr. Biden traveled to the state after the way more devastating Hurricane Ian final 12 months. On the time, Mr. DeSantis was nonetheless contemplating a bid for the presidency. However each Mr. Biden and the governor have stated they’re placing politics apart within the aftermath of the storm.

“We now have to cope with supporting the wants of the people who find themselves in hurt’s means or have difficulties,” Mr. DeSantis stated earlier this week when requested about Mr. Biden. “And that has received to conquer any kind of short-term political calculation or any kind of positioning. That is the actual deal. You’ve gotten folks’s lives which were in danger.”

Mr. DeSantis stated in a news conference on Friday that he had talked about to Mr. Biden on the cellphone that in “the toughest communities, it could be very disruptive to have the entire form of safety equipment that goes,” including, “I’m certain they’ll be delicate to that.”

Thus far, state officers have confirmed just one demise as being storm-related, though at the very least one different was linked to Idalia as properly. Energy had been restored to many houses by late this week. Roads and bridges had been being reopened.

“We had been prepared for this,” Mr. DeSantis informed Sean Hannity on Fox Information on Wednesday night time, talking in entrance of a historic oak tree that had fallen on the governor’s mansion. “Most people did evacuate, and so we’re cautiously optimistic that we’re going to finish up OK on that.”