One of Ron DeSantis' rivals for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination is hitting the Governor for not meeting President Joe Biden during Biden's visit to survey Hurricane Idalia's damage.
Florida's Governor made sure he was not in the same county with Biden on Saturday during the President's trip. In a Fox News Radio interview, Chris Christie chastised DeSantis for "playing politics" and "putting politics above his job."
"He was playing politics with it, but that's his choice. I'm not the least bit surprised that that's what he chose to do. You're the Governor of the state. President of the United States comes and you're asking the President of the United States or the Congress for significant aid, which Ron DeSantis is doing, and especially if you voted against it 10 years ago for Sandy aid, you should have been there with the President to welcome it," Christie said.
The former New Jersey Governor went on to laud U.S. Sen. Rick Scott for having "showed up and made sure that the President saw the things that he needed to see."
"Your job as Governor is to be the tour guide for the President. It's to make sure the President sees your people, sees the damage, sees the suffering, what's going on, and what's going to need to be done to rebuild it. You're doing your job. And unfortunately, he put politics ahead of his job. That was his choice," Christie told Brian Kilmeade Tuesday.
Christie was more upset than the President himself, it should be noted.
Biden said in Live Oak, regarding DeSantis not meeting him Saturday, that he was "not disappointed … because he did help us plan this."
"He sat with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and decided where we should go, where it would be the least disruption," Biden said, noting he was in "frequent touch" with the Governor despite the lack of a face-to-face meeting Saturday.
Per the Saturday schedule from Gov. DeSantis' Office, the Governor was engaged in efforts near where the hurricane made landfall earlier this week.
DeSantis' day began at 9:30 a.m. with a briefing at the state Emergency Operations Center.
From there, the Governor went to Keaton Beach for a walking tour at 11:45 and then a visit to the fire station half an hour later.
His next stop on the official itinerary was at 1 p.m., when he visited a recipient of a temporary trailer from the Florida Department of Emergency Management.
The Governor went to Horseshoe Beach from there, visiting a one-stop business resource center at 1:30, followed by a meal distribution with Chick-fil-a in the same community.
The President, meanwhile, was in Live Oak, where he got a briefing with U.S. Sen. Scott, before remarks at 4:15 p.m. that the Governor could have made while still keeping the schedule.
The Governor's spokesman said Friday that the state couldn't be assured of security for the President.
"We don't have any plans for the Governor to meet with the President tomorrow," Jeremy Redfern said. "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."
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