Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Vice President Kamala Harris accused each other of playing “political games” over reports that he wouldn’t take the Democratic presidential candidate’s calls on Hurricane Helene, which he denies.
Why it matters: The state is now staring down the threat of the “extremely dangerous” Hurricane Milton this week as officials respond to the aftermath of Helene, which struck nearly two weeks ago.
Driving the news: NBC reported Monday that DeSantis was “refusing” to take Harris’ calls on Hurricane Helene, but the Republican governor said at a briefing on Hurricane Milton that he “didn’t know that she had called, so I’m not sure who they called.”
What they’re saying: When asked about NBC’s report, Harris told reporters Monday that “people are in desperate need of support right now, and playing political games at this moment, in these crisis situations — these are the height of emergency situations — is just utterly irresponsible, and it is selfish.”
She added: “And it is about political gamesmanship instead of doing the job that you took an oath to do, which is putting the people first.”
The other side: DeSantis on Fox News’ “Hannity” on Monday night said Harris was “delusional” for calling him selfish when he’s been “laser focused on leveraging all resources available,” including speaking with President Biden and FEMA as well as working with state and local agencies.
“She has no role in this. In fact, she’s been vice president for three and a half years. I’ve dealt with a number of storms under this administration. She has never contributed anything to any of these efforts,” he said.
“I’ve had storms under both President Trump and President Biden, and I’ve worked well with both of them. She’s the first one who’s trying to politicize the storm, and she’s doing that just because of her campaign,” DeSantis added. “I don’t have time for political games.”
Zoom out: Biden spoke with DeSantis and Tampa Mayor Jane Castor “to get a report on recovery efforts for Hurricane Helene and preparations for Hurricane Milton,” said senior assistant White House press secretary Emilie Simons on X.
“He asked both to call him directly if anything can be done to further support response and recovery efforts.”
Representatives for Harris did not immediately respond to Axios’ request for comment on DeSantis’ latest remarks.
