Biden en path to Florida, however is not going to meet with DeSantis

President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden are touring to Florida’s Big Bend area early Saturday to survey injury from Hurricane Idalia, however the president received’t be seeing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. 

A spokesperson for Mr. DeSantis, Florida Republican and 2024 presidential hopeful, mentioned in a press release that establishing such a gathering may disrupt restoration efforts. 

“We don’t have any plans for the governor to meet with the president,” mentioned Jeremy Redfern, a spokesperson for Mr. DeSantis. “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.”

Mr. Biden introduced that he can be assembly with Mr. DeSantis hours earlier than the governor opted to nix the summit. The pair beforehand met when Hurricane Ian ravaged the state final yr. 

A spokesperson for the White House emphasised after the assembly’s cancellation that the Bidens’ go to wouldn’t influence native restoration efforts. 

“Their visit to Florida has been planned in close coordination with FEMA as well as state and local leaders to ensure there is no impact on response operations,” mentioned Emilie Simons, a White House spokesperson. 

Instead, Mr. Biden will meet with Sen. Rick Scott, Florida Republican, Suwannee County Chair Franklin White, and Live Oak Mayor Frank Davis. 

The president and first woman are anticipated to take an aerial tour of areas impacted by Idalia on the way in which to Live Oak. From there, Mr. Biden will obtain a briefing on response and restoration efforts, after which will tour a group impacted by the storm.

The president approved a significant catastrophe declaration after the storm made landfall, which opened up federal belongings to be despatched to the realm. That circulation of federal support contains 1,500 federal personnel on the bottom, 540 city search and rescue personnel working within the space, three catastrophe survivor help groups to assist residents impacted by Idalia, and thousands and thousands of meals and liters of water for states impacted by the hurricane that request help.