Ron DeSantis won't take Kamala's calls ahead of Hurricane Milton, says her reaching out is only 'political': report

As Florida prepares for another storm barrage, this time from from Hurricane Milton, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has turned down a call from Vice President Kamala Harris, saying it's only "political," according to a report from ABC News citing a source “close” to the governor.

The source said that DeSantis and his office believe the call is grounded in politics— not concern for the citizens of Florida and that he has no time for that. DeSantis staffers say the governor has avoided speaking with President Joe Biden for a number of days after the lame duck chief executive showed such a tardy response to Hurricane Helene.

"If you have the president and you have the vice president reaching out to offer up assistance provided to your constituents, the people who live in your state, to make sure we are doing everything that we need to do from federal response—and we're reaching out, offering our support, that's where ... it is up to [DeSantis] if he wants to respond to us or not," White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday afternoon.

DeSantis later claimed that he didn't know the vice president had called. "No, I didn't know she called me. I saw [the report], but I was not aware of that," DeSantis said, according to ABC.

In response to DeSantis' reported rejection, Harris called it "utterly irresponsible" and "selfish" to play "political games" when a crisis is ongoing. "People are in desperate need of support right now and playing political games with this moment, in these crisis situations, these are the height of emergency situations, it's utterly irresponsible, and it is selfish," Harris told reporters as she borded Air Force Two Monday afternoon, ABC noted. She didn't say what she had hoped to impart to DeSantis, who is leading a wide-ranging hurricane relief response in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and overseeing mandatory evacuations as Hurricane Milton threatens to make landfall.

Though communication has all but ceased between DeSantis and the Biden-Harris administration, Jean-Piere said there is ongoing coordination occurring between state and federal agencies. The governor had a conversation with Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Deanne Criswell on Sunday. Her agency has been eviscerated by whistleblowers who contacted Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and reported that the agency “wasted” and “misappropriated” funds during its flaccid response to Hurricane Helene.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who oversees FEMA, has said there isn’t enough money to pay for hurricane relief efforts for the entirety of hurricane season. 

Hurricane Milton is expected to bring more devastation to the Florida coast especially now that it has escalated into a Category 5 storm and DeSantis is telling all of those potentially affected to get out now. "Time is going to start running out very, very soon," DeSantis said at a Monday news conference. Hurricane Helene was a category 4 storm.

The warning order has been extended to more than 50 counties along Florida’s west coast that are now designated as being in a state of emergency. Evacuation orders have been issued for Charlotte, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco, Pinellas Sarasota and other counties. A complete list can be found on Florida's Division of Emergency Management website.

The storm should lessen to a Category 3 when it moves onto the land and brings flooding. The hurricane will further complicate efforts to clean up after the devastation of Hurricane Helene.