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As Hurricane Milton barrels towards the Florida coast, Kamala Harris did one of the weirdest things I have seen a politician do during a crisis: attack the state governor for not taking a phone call.
First, let’s be clear about the context: there has been a lot of criticism of the Biden/Harris administration over the response to Helene, although little of it has to do with FEMA’s performance in Florida as far as I can tell. Ron DeSantis had things so under control that he told the federal government to send its help to North Carolina and Tennessee, where conditions were so much worse. DeSantis even sent Florida National Guard units to help in North Carolina well before the administration activated the military to join in search and rescue.
Here is the clip of Ron DeSantis categorically denying the report from @ABC that he ignored a call from Kamala Harris. pic.twitter.com/zfH7yDXtdM— Dustin Grage (@GrageDustin) October 7, 2024
Perhaps that is why DeSantis was her target: he looked good while the administration looked bad.
Kamala Harris really just went after Ron DeSantis for “playing political games at this moment.”
Harris lied about DeSantis refusing to take her calls, she’s a truly horrible person. pic.twitter.com/PaGJd5KON7— Dustin Grage (@GrageDustin) October 7, 2024
Second, Harris has no role in hurricane relief. At all. None, zip, nada. DeSantis has been coordinating with the president and with FEMA and has never in the past spoken with Harris about disaster relief. Her phone call—assuming it happened, as DeSantis was unaware she even tried to call—would be a distraction for him and merely a campaign stunt at an inappropriate time.
