Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has firmly denied recent reports suggesting that he refused a phone call from Vice President Kamala Harris in the critical hours leading up to Hurricane Milton’s expected landfall. The accusation, initially reported by ABC News, implied that DeSantis was avoiding contact with Harris, further intensifying the already strained relationship between the Florida governor and the Biden administration.
Hurricane Milton, which rapidly intensified into a Category 5 storm, poses a severe threat to Florida’s Gulf Coast, including the Tampa Bay region. As evacuation orders are issued and residents brace for the storm, tensions between federal and state leaders over disaster coordination have come under scrutiny. The incident, however, took on a political angle after ABC News reported on Monday that DeSantis had declined to take a call from Harris regarding hurricane response efforts.
ABC News, citing an anonymous source “close to the governor,” suggested that some staffers viewed Harris’s outreach as a politically motivated gesture rather than an earnest attempt at cooperation. This report gained attention, particularly given the long-standing feud between DeSantis and Disney, the parent company of ABC, further raising suspicions about the timing and motive behind the claim.
As the storm approached, Harris was asked about the situation while boarding a plane. In her response, she criticized DeSantis, accusing him of prioritizing political games over the well-being of Floridians. “Moments of crisis, if nothing else, should really be the moment that anyone who calls themselves a leader says they’re going to put politics aside and put the people first,” Harris remarked. She went on to accuse DeSantis of being “utterly irresponsible” and “selfish” for allegedly refusing her call, saying, “It is about political gamesmanship instead of doing the job that you took an oath to do, which is to put the people first.”
Harris’s sharp rebuke fueled the narrative that DeSantis was politicizing a crucial moment of disaster preparedness, potentially undermining collaboration between federal and state officials in the midst of an emergency. However, within hours, DeSantis directly addressed the situation during a press conference, firmly rejecting the claims and calling them completely false.
“No, I didn’t know she called me. I saw [the report], but I was not aware of that,” DeSantis said. He clarified that while he had communicated with President Joe Biden during the response to Hurricane Helene the previous week, he had not received any recent calls from either Biden or Harris. “Biden called me a couple of days ago with Helene when I was on the helicopter. I didn’t have any issues. They helped us with what we’ve done,” he added, emphasizing that the state had received all necessary federal assistance for the ongoing recovery efforts from Hurricane Helene.
DeSantis went on to stress that his administration has maintained strong communication with federal authorities regarding disaster response and has received all required approvals. “At the same time, we got the approvals that we need. If there’s something else that we need, I’ll hop on the phone very quickly whether that’s a FEMA administrator or the president, and we will press the case to be able to get approvals for what we need in Florida,” he assured Floridians. “But we have gotten approvals for everything that we’ve asked for.”
The governor also dismissed the allegations that his office had politicized the situation. “I didn’t know that she had called, so I’m not sure who they called. They didn’t call me, and their characterization of it was something that they did—it wasn’t anything that anybody in my office did in terms of saying that it was political,” DeSantis clarified.
ABC News’ original report, coupled with Harris’s comments, appears to have created a narrative that DeSantis was deliberately avoiding coordination with the White House. This claim, however, now seems to lack factual basis following DeSantis’s explanation. As the situation continues to develop, the focus shifts back to the immediate threat posed by Hurricane Milton and the efforts underway to protect residents and mitigate damage.
While this exchange adds another layer of tension between DeSantis and the Biden-Harris administration, DeSantis made it clear that his priority remains the safety of Florida’s residents. He reiterated that if any further federal assistance is needed as Hurricane Milton approaches, his administration would not hesitate to engage with federal officials to secure necessary resources.
As Hurricane Milton looms large, residents are urged to heed evacuation orders and prepare for what could be catastrophic winds, storm surges, and flooding. Both state and federal disaster response teams are expected to coordinate efforts closely as the storm makes its way toward Florida’s Gulf Coast.
The dispute between DeSantis and Harris, while briefly grabbing headlines, appears to have been a misunderstanding or miscommunication, further exacerbated by political tensions. The governor’s reassurances that disaster response coordination with the federal government remains intact should provide Floridians with a measure of confidence as they prepare for the hurricane’s impact.
For now, the focus returns to the urgent task at hand—protecting lives and property in the face of a dangerous and rapidly approaching storm.
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