'She Doesn't Understand What It Means To Respond': Gov. Ron DeSantis SLAMS Kamala Harris After Interjecting Herself In Hurricane Relief Efforts

Following the aftermath of Hurricane Milton on Thursday morning, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) joined CNBC to discuss recovery efforts and his ongoing feud with Vice President Kamala Harris after she attempted to interject herself in hurricane relief efforts by demanding that the governor take her call even though she's not part of the chain of command. DeSantis, who spent the week preparing for the storm by coordinating with state officials and President Biden, slammed Harris for politicizing the deadly storm.

"I am working with the president of the United States. I'm working with the director of FEMA. I'm marshaling all my state assets. We've been doing this now nonstop for over two weeks between Helene and this. So, if there's anything I can leverage to benefit my people, I'm going to do it. The fact of the matter is, they put out a story saying I didn't take [her call]," DeSantis explained. "I didn't even know she was trying to reach me, but she has no role in this process, and I've been dealing with these storms in Florida under both Trump and Biden. Neither of them ever politicized it."

"And in fact, all of the storms that I've dealt with in this administration, although I've worked well with the president, she has never called in on Florida. She has never offered any support. What she's doing is she's trying to inject herself into this because of her political campaign," the Florida Republican explained. "So as the governor here, who's leading this, I don't have time for those games. I don't care about her campaign. Obviously, I'm not a supporter of hers. She has no role in this process. I'm working with people I need to be working with. We're leveraging the resources I need to be leveraging. For her to try to say that my focus should be catering to her rather than worrying about my own people just shows that she doesn't understand what it means to respond to these natural disasters."

As previously reported by the DC Enquirer, the Democratic presidential candidate asserted to reporters on Monday that DeSantis wasn't putting the people first. "People are in desperate need of support right now, and playing political games at this moment in these crisis situations … is just utterly irresponsible, and it is selfish," Harris said. "It is about political gamesmanship, instead of doing the job that you took an oath to do, which is to put the people first."

Despite Harris' claims that DeSantis was being "selfish" as he prepared for Hurricane Milton, President Biden said the exact opposite. "The Governor of Florida has been cooperative. He's said he's gotten all that he needs. I talked to him again yesterday, and I said — a — boy — I said I know you're doing a great job," Biden told the media. "It's being all — being done well, we thank you for it, and I literally gave him my personal phone number to call, so I don't know — there was a rough start in some places, but every governor — every governor — from Florida to North Carolina, has been fully cooperative and supportive and acknowledged what this team is doing and they're doing an incredible job. But we got a lot more work to do."

🚨JUST IN: Ron DeSantis shut down CNBC host that accused him of politicizing Hurricane Milton!

THIS is how you handle the Fake News!

DeSantis: “I didn't even know she was trying to reach me, but she has no role in this process… and I've been dealing with these storms in… pic.twitter.com/uHoaJYnmIN

— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) October 10, 2024

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