2024 presidential election live: Kamala Harris and Ron DeSantis accuse each other of playing ‘political games’ as Hurricane Milton approaches

By Katelyn Caralle, senior US political reporter

As Hurricane Milton barrels toward Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis and Vice President Kamala Harris are blaming each other for playing “political games” when it comes to storm response.

Reports emerged this week that DeSantis rejected calls from Harris and President Joe Biden because he felt they were seeking political gain in the wake of Hurricane Helene’s devastation and before the next storm made landfall.

While the White House said it was up to DeSantis to decide whether he wanted to work with the administration, Florida’s governor said he wasn’t even aware the president and vice president had reached out.

Harris told reporters Monday that DeSantis is behaving “irresponsibly” and “selfish” and accused him of “playing political games.”

It’s about political gamesmanship instead of doing the job you took an oath to do, which is putting the people first.

DeSantis told Fox News host Sean Hannity later that night that the 2024 Democratic presidential hopeful was “delusional” because he is “laser-focused on taking advantage of all available resources.”

The Republican governor continued:

She plays no role in this. In fact, she has been vice president for three and a half years. I have been through a number of storms under this administration. She never contributed anything to these efforts.

I’ve had storms under both President Trump and President Biden, and I’ve worked well with them. She is the first to try to politicize the storm, and she is only doing so because of her campaign.

I don’t have time for political games.

As Florida, North Carolina and other parts of the East Coast recover from the death and destruction caused by Hurricane Helene, Florida is preparing to be hit by another storm on Wednesday.

Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday attacked Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for not answering her calls as another hurricane barreled toward his state’s coastline.

Harris spoke to reporters at Joint Base Andrew as she left for New York on Monday, ahead of a series of interviews in the Big Apple.

Earlier Monday, reports emerged that DeSantis ignored a call from Harris specifically because he believed the move was politically motivated — as she is the Democratic nominee for president.

“You know, moments of crisis should really be the moment when anyone who calls themselves a leader says they’re going to put politics aside and put people first,” Harris said on the tarmac.

She pointed out that “people are in dire need of support right now.”

“And playing political games right now in these crisis situations, this is the height of the emergencies, it’s just completely irresponsible, and it’s selfish, and it’s about political games instead of doing the job that you take an oath to do.” you have taken. , which is to put people first,” Harris added.

Vice President Kamala Harris struggled to answer when questioned during an evasive 60 Minutes interview about whether she thought it was a “mistake” to allow a “flood” of illegal migrants into the US to leave.

The Democratic nominee took center stage when host Bill Whitaker asked her why it took three and a half years for the Biden administration to implement tougher restrictions to solve the immigration crisis.

Harris dodged the question while Whitaker continued to press whether she regretted that border crossings had “quadrupled” during her first three years in the White House.

Vice President Kamala Harris revealed she owns a Glock pistol and fired it at the shooting range as she doubled down on her claims that she would shoot an intruder.

Harris disclosed the information in a interview on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” when correspondent Bill Whitaker asked her about an issue she has only briefly addressed in other settings.

“I have a Glock and I’ve had it for a while. And – I mean, look, Bill, my background is in law enforcement, so here you go,” she told him.