Your help helps us inform the story
As your White Home correspondent, I ask the robust questions and search the solutions that matter.
Your help permits me to be within the room and advocate for transparency and accountability. With out your contributions, we might not have the sources to problem these in energy.
Your donation permits us to proceed this essential work and maintain you knowledgeable each step of the way in which to the November election
Andrew Feinberg
White Home correspondent
As Hurricane Milton bears down on the US, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has accused Kamala Harris of politicizing storm preparations after the vice chairman known as the Republican “egocentric” for allegedly ignoring her calls.
“We have been in emergency conditions 24/7 for 2 weeks,” DeSantis advised Fox Information on Tuesday. “That was my solely focus. My focus was not on coping with Kamala Harris. I noticed the information report. I didn't know she tried to contact me. It's not about you, Kamala. It’s in regards to the folks of Florida.”
The governor then claimed that Harris was by no means taken with Florida's response to the hurricane till she started operating for president.
“Why is she immediately making an attempt to parachute in and inject herself when she's by no means cared in regards to the previous?” DeSantis mentioned, including, “I don't have time to play these political video games.”
In reality, Harris visited South Florida in 2022 to announce $1 billion in federal assist to organize for excessive climate.
Throughout an look on Tuesday The viewVice President Harris mentioned she has all the time tried to work with leaders of all events on catastrophe reduction and mentioned she made some extent of reaching out to DeSantis due to the unprecedented risk posed by Milton.
“This one shall be completely different,” she mentioned. “That’s why I known as the governor to see what impression Florida has made. We have now to agree that sooner or later all of us must work collectively.”
“When I’m president, I’ll proceed to name him and see what assist he wants,” she added.
The disagreement follows information stories Monday that DeSantis refused to talk to Harris within the wake of Hurricane Helene.
“Kamala tried to achieve us and we didn't reply,” a DeSantis aide advised NBC Information, including that the calls “appeared political.”
In response, the vice chairman accused DeSantis of “political gaming.”
“Moments of disaster ought to, if nothing else, actually be the second when anybody who calls themselves a pacesetter says: I'm going to place politics apart and put the folks first,” Harris advised reporters on Monday.
“It's fully irresponsible and egocentric and about political gaming as an alternative of doing the job you swore you’d do,” she added.
Tensions between the White Home and the Florida governor's workplace come up as Tampa prepares for the arrival of Hurricane Milton, anticipated to be the area's worst storm in a century when it makes landfall tomorrow.
The state can be nonetheless rebuilding from the latest Hurricane Helene, which killed a minimum of 20 folks within the Sunshine State and initially left practically 1,000,000 Floridians with out energy.
Partisanship has additionally influenced Helene's response elsewhere, with main Republicans like Donald Trump spreading conspiracy theories about catastrophe reduction in locations like North Carolina, together with saying federal officers have been ignoring Republican-leaning locations.