https://www.huffpost.com/entry/desantis-wont-meet-biden-hurricane-idalia_n_64f2ab6be4b0fe066b180a20
DeSantis Has 'No Plans' To Meet Biden During Post-Hurricane Florida Visit
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis′ office said Friday that he has “no plans” to meet with President Joe Biden when the Democrat flies to Florida this weekend to survey damage from Hurricane Idalia, suggesting that doing so could hinder disaster response.
“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,” DeSantis spokesman Jeremy Redfern said in a statement.
Gov. DeSantis's press secretary says he won't meet with President Biden in Florida tomorrow. "We don’t have any plans for the Governor to meet with the President tomorrow," Jeremy Redfern says. "In these rural communities, and so soon after impact, the security preparations alone…
DeSantis preemptively heading off a meeting contradicts Biden himself, who, when asked after an event at the White House earlier Friday whether he would meet with DeSantis during his trip to Florida, replied, “Yes.”
It’s also a break from the recent past, since Biden and DeSantis met when the president toured Florida after Hurricane Ian hit the state last year, and following the Surfside condo collapse in Miami Beach in summer 2021. But DeSantis is now running for president, and he only left the Republican primary trail last week with Idalia barreling toward his state
White House spokeswoman Emilie Simons responded, “President Biden and the first lady look forward to meeting members of the community impacted by Hurricane Idalia and surveying impacts of the storm.”
“Their visit to Florida has been planned in close coordination” with the Federal Emergency Management Agency “as well as state and local leaders to ensure there is no impact on response operations,” Simons said in her own statement.
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