President Joe Biden made his way to Florida on Saturday, visiting with residents and areas of the state that were torn apart by Hurricane Idalia last week.
Biden and first lady Jill Biden toured several areas of the state that were left damaged by the Category 3 storm. The president was briefed about the state’s recovery efforts and met with local officials, except for the state’s governor.
One official Biden did meet with was former Florida Gov. and current Sen. Rick Scott (R), who shared the state’s efforts with the commander-in-chief.
“I’m very pleased, the guy who we don’t agree very much at all, the distinguished former governor and senior senator, he came, talked about to me and to you all [about] what an incredible job the federal government was doing and I found that reassuring,” Biden said. “And, so, I think we can pull all of this together, I really do.”
Biden also thanked those who assisted in search and rescue efforts.
“All the officials from Florida, we want to thank them,” Biden said. “Folks who ran toward danger instead of away from the danger when the storm came and hit. It meant a lot.”
The president continued, giving his support by saying he would approve requests from the state for federal recovery funds and urge Congress to ensure funding is available should more disasters come.
“Your nation has your back and will be with you until the job is done,” Biden said.
On Friday, Jeremy Redfern, press secretary for the Florida governor’s office, shared with NBC News that Gov. Ron DeSantis had no plans to meet with the president despite being made aware of his trip to the state.
“In these rural communities, and so soon after impact, the security preparations alone that would go into setting up such a meeting would shut down ongoing recovery efforts,” Redfern said in a statement.
Still, Biden made his way through neighborhoods and communities, speaking with victims of the storm, saying the “spirit of this community is remarkable.”
“When people are in real trouble, the most important thing you can give them is hope,” Biden said. “There’s no hope like your neighbor walking across the street to see what they can do for you.”
Biden was eventually asked about the snub from DeSantis, telling a reporter that he was not disappointed the two couldn’t meet.
“He may have had other reasons,” the president said in response to a reporter’s question. “But he did help us plan this. He sat with FEMA and decided where we should go, where would be the least disruption.”
Some have criticized the governor for not meeting with Biden, suggesting that it was politically motivated, being that DeSantis is running for the 2024 GOP nominee.
However, DeSantis said before the storm made landfall last week that there was “a time and a place to have political season,” and this wasn’t it.
DeSantis later brought up his concerns for the president being disruptive on Friday after the storm had passed, saying with so many ways to get into the hardest hit areas, “it would be very disruptive to have the whole security apparatus that goes” with the president be set up.
“What we want to do is make sure that the power restoration continues and the relief efforts continue, and we don’t have any interruption in that,” DeSantis said.
On Thursday, Biden joked about his relationship with DeSantis, saying that the two talked so much about the storm that they should have a “direct dial” between them.
Homeland Security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall shared with reporters earlier in the week that after other natural disasters, the two have become “very collegial when we have the work to do together of helping Americans in need, citizens of Florida in need.”