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Despite a burgeoning political rivalry, President Joe Biden and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) stood side by side and thanked each other Wednesday for their work to provide emergency relief to the people of Florida in the wake of Hurricane Ian.
Biden and first lady Jill Biden joined DeSantis and his wife, Casey, in Fort Myers, Florida, Wednesday to survey damage caused by the deadly storm and receive a briefing from Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Deanne Criswell on the government’s joint response.
A CHANGED FLORIDA: PHOTOS SHOW DEVASTATING AFTERMATH OF HURRICANE IAN
DeSantis is widely regarded as a potential 2024 Republican presidential nominee and has been a thorn in the Biden administration’s side as of late over a series of moves the White House has deemed immigration-focused “political stunts,” but he thanked the president Wednesday for fully authorizing his 60-day emergency aid request and “working together” to deliver help to needy Floridians.
“We are cutting through the red tape, and that’s from local government, state government, all the way up to the president, so we appreciate the team effort,” DeSantis said during remarks delivered from behind the presidential podium.
https://twitter.com/EWErickson/status/1577736045797511168
Biden, in turn, told a crowd of onlookers that disasters like Ian help America “come together” in the face of crisis.
“Today, we have one job and only one job, and that’s to make sure the people of Florida get everything they need to fully, thoroughly recover,” the president riffed. “This is about America coming together.”
“Here’s the deal: I promise you, we’re going to be with you every step of the way. The people of Florida, to all of you, we’re in this together,” Biden continued. “This is the United States of America, the United States of America.”
Asked by reporters what it was like working so closely with DeSantis this past week, Biden said he thinks the governor has “done a good job.”
“We have very different political philosophies,” he acknowledged. “But we’ve worked hand in glove. We’ve been in complete lockstep.”
The president did mention climate change, a subject DeSantis has previously dismissed as an “excuse” for Democrats to push “left-wing” policies, as a key driver behind the severity of the storm.
“The biggest thing the governor has done, and some of the others have done, they recognize this thing called global warming. The world is changing, and we have to change,” he told reporters. “You can’t go back to what it was before. You got to build back better.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
You can watch Biden and DeSantis’s remarks in full below.
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