As PJ Media reported earlier this week, the White House acknowledged that, despite President Biden making calls to a number of Florida mayors in advance of Hurricane Ian making landfall, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis did not receive a call.
DeSantis addressed the absence of direct communication from the White House during a press conference on Tuesday, noting that, while he has received the necessary support from FEMA, he has not heard from Joe Biden.
“So I have not personally spoken with the president, but FEMA has approved our pre-landfall request,” DeSantis said.
“I’m happy to brief the president if he’s interested in hearing what we’re doing in Florida,” he continued. “You’ve got people’s lives at stake…no time for pettiness, we’ve gotta work together to make sure we’re doing the best job for them. So, my phone line is open.”
Well, the White House clearly got the message that Biden needs to forget his political differences with DeSantis and start acting like a leader because, later that evening, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre revealed that Biden finally called DeSantis.
“President Biden spoke this evening with Governor DeSantis of Florida to discuss the steps the Federal government is taking to help Florida prepare for Hurricane Ian,” she tweeted. “The President and the Governor committed to continued close coordination.”
It’s good that they finally spoke, but it took way too long for this to happen, and whatever the White House thought they were proving by snubbing DeSantis, it clearly backfired.
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