Representatives for Biden and DeSantis differed on whether or not a meeting had been coordinated.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Saturday appeared to snub President Joe Biden on his tour of the state in the wake of Hurricane Idalia, even as Senator Rick Scott praised the president for his response to the storm.
Idalia made landfall across Florida’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday morning as a Category 3 hurricane, bringing sustained winds of roughly 125 miles per hour and severe storm surges that were deemed unsurvivable in some areas. At least two deaths have been attributed to the storm and around 278,000 residents are estimated to have lost power.
On Saturday, Biden visited parts of Florida to survey the damage left in the wake of the hurricane. The conversation around the visit was briefly derailed, however, after it was reported that DeSantis would not be meeting with the president, despite the Biden administration claiming that a meeting between the two leaders had been planned.
