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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Biden, DeSantis meet in Florida, pledging bipartisanship on Ian relief

By Toluse Olorunnipa Washington Post

FORT MYERS BEACH, Fla. – President Joe Biden visited a storm-stricken community in southwest Florida on Wednesday, touring the damage from Hurricane Ian and praising one of his top political rivals and harshest critics, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“I think he’s done a good job,” Biden told reporters when asked about the Florida governor’s handling of the storm. “We’ve worked hand in glove. We have very different political philosophies, but we’ve worked hand in glove … . In dealing with this crisis, we’ve been in complete lockstep.”

Before meeting with DeSantis, who also offered words of praise and bipartisanship during the visit, Biden surveyed the storm’s aftermath by helicopter, viewing capsized boats, destroyed businesses and waterlogged homes. He also attended a briefing with local officials and viewed more of the wreckage on foot, meeting with small-business owners and local residents in one of the communities hit hardest by the deadly Category 4 hurricane.

In speaking to local residents after viewing the damage, Biden pledged that while the recovery effort will take years, the federal government will provide support as long as necessary.

“The only thing I can assure you is that the federal government will be here until it’s finished,” Biden said, emphasizing that as a “united” country, people across the political spectrum could come together in a time of crisis.

The White House said Biden and DeSantis, potential opponents in the 2024 presidential campaign, would put politics aside during the trip, instead focusing on the urgent matter of providing relief to a part of the state that was battered by flooding, high winds and widespread power outages.

“There will be plenty of time to discuss differences between the president and the governor, and – but now is not the time,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Tuesday.

For the most part, that was the case as Biden was greeted by Republican officials in Florida, including Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, and received accolades from DeSantis for his response.

“We were very fortunate to have good coordination with the White House and with (the Federal Emergency Management Agency),” DeSantis said, speaking at a presidential lectern that had been set up for Biden. In introducing the man who he may one day seek to oust from the presidency, DeSantis added that the storm recovery had faced few bureaucratic hiccups, in part because of Biden’s efforts.

“Mr. President, welcome to Florida,” he said. “We appreciate working across all the various levels of government.”

Hurricane Ian slammed into southwest Florida on Sept. 28, flooding homes, tearing off roofs, washing away roads and leaving thousands of people stranded without power or access to essential services.

Biden, who traveled with first lady Jill Biden and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, had already spoken by phone with DeSantis several times in recent days, pledging to provide Florida with whatever it needs to recover from the storm.

Ahead of the trip, he approved a decision by the federal government to pay 100 percent of the costs for debris removal and other assistance for 60 days.

DeSantis, who had publicly worried that the original 30-day window for full reimbursement would not be enough for some local communities, had requested the 60-day approval, Criswell said.

The Florida Medical Examiners Commission has confirmed more than 70 storm-related deaths, but the total is probably higher, as searches continue for several people still missing. Moreover, survivors of the storm face a long road to recovery as they try to repair their homes and rebuild their lives. The area Biden visited Wednesday was pummeled by Ian, with hundreds of homes and businesses damaged or destroyed and much of the beachfront community’s commercial area flattened.

“We took a real bad shot,” Fort Myers Beach Mayor Ray Murphy said in a video message Friday. “A real hard hit. There’s a lot of devastation down here. And more to come.”

DeSantis has been consistent in praising the Biden administration for its handling of the hurricane, thanking FEMA for its response efforts.

“I think FEMA’s worked very well with the state and local, and we want to continue to do it and have all hands on deck,” he said Tuesday.

Criswell, who spent time with DeSantis last week, praised his team for its cooperation with the federal government.

DeSantis, who is up for reelection next month and has been considered a top potential contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, has previously criticized Biden over some of his policies, focusing most recently on immigration.

The Florida governor’s decision to fly dozens of Venezuelan migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., last month sparked backlash among Democrats, with Biden calling the action “un-American” and “reckless.”

While Biden aides said the president would not raise his concerns over the migrant flights during the trip, neither DeSantis nor the White House have completely put the contentious issue of immigration aside in the wake of the storm.

Jean-Pierre reminded reporters Tuesday that Biden felt “outrage” over DeSantis’s “stunt” that treated vulnerable, unsuspecting migrants like political pawns, adding that the issue would be one they could address another day.

“This is going to be, as you’ve said, above politics,” Jean-Pierre said, referencing an earlier meeting between Biden and DeSantis last year in the aftermath of a deadly building collapse in Surfside, Fla.

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), whose district was hit hard by Ian, took to Twitter to highlight the apolitical nature of the trip, saying he was pleased to welcome the Bidens to Florida.

“Political differences aside, it’s the job of every President and first lady to console and support Americans in need following a devastating tragedy,” he wrote on Twitter. “Before (R) and (D), we are Americans.”

For his part, DeSantis drew a connection between the federal government’s handling of immigration and the hurricane, alleging that the Biden administration’s border policies were hampering recovery efforts.

“What has happened by having massive numbers of people coming across the border has not been good for this country,” he told reporters during a hurricane-related news conference Tuesday, after claiming that three people arrested for looting after the storm were not in the country legally.

“I don’t have the authority to forcibly relocate people,” he added, describing the migrant flights as a “voluntary” relocation program. “If I could, I’d take those three looters, I’d drag them out by the collar and send them back to where they came from.”

The crowd at the news conference erupted into applause.

Wednesday’s event was a less combative affair, though there were still flashes of political difference.

Biden used his remarks to talk about how extreme weather in places including California, Colorado, New Mexico and Oregon shows that climate change is wreaking havoc around the country. Conservatives have been loath to raise the issue of climate change in talking about Hurricane Ian, and DeSantis did not mention the issue in his remarks.

Still, Biden took the opportunity to link DeSantis to the issue.

“What the governor’s done is pretty remarkable,” Biden said. “The governor has recognized that there’s a thing called global warming.”

As Biden made those comments, answering questions from reporters after his official remarks, DeSantis quietly got into his vehicle and left.