Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is dodging calls from Vice President Kamala Harris about Hurricane Milton, sources close to the governor told multiple news outlets.
“Kamala was trying to reach out, and we didn’t answer,” an anonymous DeSantis aide told NBC News on Monday. A source close to the governor also confirmed the same to ABC News hours later.
The anonymous DeSantis aide said the governor declined to take Harris’ calls because they “seemed political.” They were unsure if DeSantis had been in communication with President Joe Biden.
Harris offered harsh words for the governor after reporters asked her about the evaded calls at Joint Base Andrews on Monday. “It’s just utterly irresponsible, and it is selfish, and it is about political gamesmanship instead of doing the job that you took an oath to do.”
Milton is projected to make landfall on Florida’s Gulf Coast by Wednesday. It has rapidly intensified over the last 24 hours from Category 1 to a now Category 5 storm—sustaining wind speeds over 157 miles per hour. Milton’s maximum wind speeds are currently 180 miles per hour, according to the most recent update from the National Hurricane Center.
The storm is projected to hit the Sunshine State less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida’s Big Bend region as a Category 4 storm.
When asked about the dodged calls, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said “that’s really for the governor to speak to.”
“We invited the governor to come and survey the damaged areas with the president,” Jean-Pierre said at a press briefing on Monday, referring to Biden’s trip to visit the states damaged by Hurricane Helene last week. “It was his decision not to attend and not be there with the president,” said Jean-Pierre.
DeSantis was in the Tampa Bay area for a scheduled press conference at the same time Biden was visiting northern Florida.
Debris left over from Hurricane Helene is piled up outside the Pass-A-Grille Women’s Club in St. Petersburg, Florida for authorities to pick up before Hurricane Milton strikes.
BRYAN R. SMITH/Getty
“If you have the president and you have the vice president reaching out to offer up assistance provided to your constituents, the people who live in your state, to make sure we are doing everything that we need to do from the federal response and we’re reaching out offering our support… it’s up to him if he wants to respond to us or not,” Jean-Pierre said.
Jean-Pierre confirmed that FEMA administrator Deanne Criswell has spoken with DeSantis as the state prepares for Hurricane Milton and that the White House had been in contact with state and local officials in Florida.
“So look, we’re going to do our job,” Jean-Pierre said. “We’re going to do what we need to do to make sure communities have what they need as this hurricane is coming our way at potentially Category 5.”
Tropicana Field, the MLB stadium where the Tampa Bay Rays play, prepares beds to serve as a temporary storm shelter in Pinellas County.
Octavio Jones/Reuters
Meanwhile, DeSantis has been busy directing his state’s preparations for Milton, which is currently projected to make landfall in the Tampa Bay area. Mandatory evacuation orders have so far been issued for parts of Pasco, Pinellas, and Hillsborough counties.
On Sunday, DeSantis announced a “24/7” operation to remove as much debris leftover from Helene before Milton is projected to hit—likely late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning, according to the National Hurricane Center’s latest predictions.
DeSantis also defended his decision to send National Guardsmen and other state resources to North Carolina and other states that suffered worse effects from Helene, the Tampa Bay Times reported. “You had people that were dying in the mountains there, and we’re all Americans, and we step up and we do the right thing,” DeSantis told reporters on Monday.
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