Gov. Ron DeSantis Refused To Answer Hurricane Relief Calls From The White House
HuffPost
“It’s up to him if he wants to respond to us or not,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said of the Florida Republican.
The White House called out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis at a Monday afternoon press briefing in response to reports that the Republican has refused to answer phone calls from President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris about hurricane relief efforts.
“It’s up to him if he wants to respond to us or not,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters with a shrug Monday, confirming the reports.
“We invited the governor, right, to come and survey the damage areas with the president. Obviously, we were in Florida, we invited the governor of Florida to come. It was his decision not ― to not attend or not be there with the president,” Jean-Pierre said. “The president has reached out around Hurricane Helene. He reached out. It is up to the governor. It is really up to the governor.”
Jean-Pierre noted that federal officials, including Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, have nevertheless connected with state and local officials to help with storm recovery.
“We’re going to do the work,” Jean-Pierre said. “We’re going to continue to talk to local and state officials, that’s important as well, we’re going to pre-position as Hurricane Milton is coming towards Florida.”