Florida Governor Ron DeSantis bucked an offer from President Joe Biden this week to meet in Florida following Hurricane Idalia because the security protections that Biden would require would shut down recovery efforts.
Biden told CNN on Friday that he had plans to meet with the governor during his trip to the state over the weekend.
However, DeSantis’ office said that won’t be happening because the governor is focused solely on recovery efforts.
“We don’t have any plans for the Governor to meet with the President tomorrow,” DeSantis Press Secretary Jeremy Redfern said in a statement. “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.”
Earlier in the week, Biden said that in his talks with DeSantis about the hurricane, there was never any mention of politics.
“Governor DeSantis is also running for president. You are running for re-election,” a reporter said. “Did you sense any politics in your conversations with him about [Hurricane Idalia]?”
“No, believe it or not. I know it sounds strange, especially how the nature of politics today,” Biden responded. “But I was down there in the last major storm, I spent a lot of time with him walking from community to community making sure he had what he needed to get it done.”
“I think he trusts my judgement and my desire to help and I trust him to be able to suggest what he needs, that this is not about politics, this is about taking care of the people of the state,” he added.
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