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Joe Biden will call Ron DeSantis after the president has been criticized for failing to reach the GOP governor before Hurricane Ian makes landfall in Florida.
The president will call DeSantis by phone at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to the Florida governor’s daily schedule released Tuesday evening.
Biden will make the call as he travels with a motorcade to a Democratic Governors Association reception in Washington, DC, on Wednesday evening.
Hurricane Ian upgraded to a Category 3 storm on Tuesday and could reach Category 4 by the time it reaches Florida’s Gulf Coast on Wednesday night. The wind is already over 125 miles per hour.
Biden spoke to the mayors of three cities in Florida on the west coast of the Sunshine State, two Democrats and a Republican, on Tuesday and asked why he hadn’t talked to DeSantis directly.
His government dodged questions about why the call hadn’t already happened during Tuesday’s press conference.
President Joe Biden will call Republican Governor Ron DeSantis Wednesday night after a slew of criticism for not speaking directly with Florida’s governor prior to a Category 3 hurricane making landfall in his state.
During his presidency, Biden held talks with Republican governors Kay Ivey of Alabama, Asa Hutchinson of Arkansas and Greg Abbott of Texas as their states also faced weather-related emergencies for the past two years.
FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said during a White House press conference on Tuesday that communications between President Biden and Governor DeSantis’ administration had “zero” impact on how her agency functions.
“In the past, President Biden has called governors in situations such as natural disasters,” a reporter noted when questioning Criswell on Tuesday. “Can you explain how these determinations were made and why it was not done in this case to have the president call the governor?”
Criswell dodged the question, noting that she spoke with DeSantis on Friday and placed senior members of her team with the governor to help meet the needs created by the approaching storm.
The White House dodged questions at Tuesday’s briefing about why Biden hadn’t called DeSantis yet
“The president is very focused on making sure the federal family has the right resources to support this,” Criswell said. “That’s why I contacted the governor right away and we have a team from my senior leadership embedded with the governor to make sure we support that.”
“Our focus today is to make sure we have taken the right measures,” she added.
Criswell noted that “President Biden signed Governor DeSantis’ pre-landing emergency declaration request on Saturday” as further proof of coordination between the federal government and Florida authorities.
When he insisted on why Biden called the mayors and not the governor, Criswell declined to answer the question directly.
“Again, we have a strong team supporting the governor right now,” she said.
DeSantis has emerged as a future face of the GOP and has been put forward as a potential Republican presidential candidate. He’s also become quite a controversial figure, which was only exacerbated by the fact that he flew 50 migrants on a private plane to Martha’s Vineyard Island earlier this month.
The governor’s office has confirmed that he has not yet heard from President Biden himself about the approaching storm.
A couple closes their restaurant in St. Petersburg, Florida, on Tuesday, September 27, as they prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Ian
“The FEMA clerk and I just got out of the Oval Office where the president also had separate conversations with Tampa Mayor Jane Castor, St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch and Clearwater Mayor Frank Hibbard,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean- Pierre said Tuesday at the top of her briefing before handing over the podium to Criswell.
She added: “They discussed planning and preparation for Hurricane Ian.”
Hurricane Ian has been upgraded to a Category 3 hurricane this week as it is expected to make landfall near Tampa on Florida’s gulf coast Wednesday night through Thursday morning. By the time it hits land, it could strengthen to a Category 4 storm, according to AccuWeather.
While other reporters tried to clarify why Biden and DeSantis had not spoken, Criswell repeatedly stated that the duo’s lack of contact would not affect the response of FEMA and other entities to the storm.
“We’re going to support whatever Governor DeSantis asks of us,” Criswell told a reporter’s investigation into the lack of communication between the two.
“We signed his emergency declaration within hours of sending it,” she added. “We will continue to do so as we see the effects of this storm.”
When asked if the communications between Biden and the DeSantis administration had any “impact on how you all work,” Criswell said, “Nil.”
City workers and volunteers in St. Petersburg, Florida deliver sandbags to residents on Tuesday as the city prepares for the impact of Hurricane Ian as winds in Gulf Coast cities reach 200 miles per hour