I guess we should have expected as much.
Joe Biden came to Florida on Wednesday to give the appearance of being in charge of the federal response to Hurricane Ian, which devastated portions of the Sunshine State last week.
Biden’s visit required him to put his political pettiness aside and be seen in public with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Biden previously snubbed DeSantis before the hurricane made landfall and was quickly called out by the governor, who said, “You know, I’m happy to brief the president if he’s interested in hearing what we’re doing in Florida. You know, my view on all this is like, you got people’s lives at stake, you got their property at stake, and we don’t have time for pettiness. We got to work together to make sure we’re doing the best job for them.”
Hours later, Biden finally called DeSantis and tried to echo DeSantis’s call for putting politics aside. “This is not about anything having to do with our disagreements politically; this is about saving people’s lives, homes and businesses. That’s what this is about,” Biden said.
Related: Hurricane Myths
But during his visit to Florida, Biden just couldn’t help himself. As he delivered an address, with DeSantis over his left shoulder, he declared, “I think the one thing this [hurricane] has finally ended is the discussion about whether or not there is climate change and we should do something about it.”
Is that so? Hurricane Ian ended the debate? Says who? Recovery efforts are still ongoing, but Biden couldn’t help himself by pushing his climate agenda.
Biden: "I think the one thing [the hurricane] has ended is the discussion about whether or not there is climate change and we should do something about it." pic.twitter.com/bBgnJcpvlX
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) October 5, 2022
It’s unclear if his climate change quip was part of his prepared remarks or not, but it was inappropriate. Kudos to Gov. DeSantis, who managed to keep a straight face through Biden’s remark.
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