Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell dismissed concerns tension between President Joe Biden and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will impede the response to Hurricane Ian as the Category 3 storm bears down on the Republican’s state.
“We are very focused on what the needs of Florida is right now,” Criswell told reporters Tuesday at the White House. “We do not bring politics into our ability to respond to these disasters. We’re going to support whatever Gov. DeSantis asks of us.”
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Criswell’s appearance at the press briefing coincided with the White House disclosing Biden’s separate phone calls with Mayors Jane Castor of Tampa, Ken Welch of St. Petersburg, and Frank Hibbard of Clearwater as residents brace for or evacuate from Hurricane Ian before its expected landfall in the United States on Wednesday.
Biden had directed Criswell to contact DeSantis after the pair spoke last week, according to the administrator. Criswell, who warned about the dangers of complacency given the state’s relative inexperience with hurricanes, added that her regional counterpart is with the governor.
“The president is very focused on making sure that the federal family has the right resources available to support this,” Criswell said earlier in the briefing. “We have a strong team that’s in place supporting the governor right now, working side by side with him and his staff.”
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Biden and DeSantis’s relationship has deteriorated since the two leaders put politics aside after the deadly apartment building collapse in Surfside, Florida, last April. Since then, DeSantis, who some believe could be a 2024 Republican presidential candidate, has most recently clashed with Biden over immigration, flying immigrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, earlier this month.
