Hurricane forces Biden and DeSantis to attempt to bury the hatchet — for now

After days of hypothesis, President Joe Biden and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) introduced Wednesday that they'd had a cellphone name and every praised the opposite's efforts to take care of Hurricane Ian. However the peace could also be tenuous at greatest.

Biden mentioned throughout a morning speech that he talked to DeSantis "for a while" the earlier night about preparations for the storm. DeSantis made bipartisan overtures as nicely, saying he appreciated the Biden administration's consideration for the individuals of Florida.

WHITE HOUSE DRAWS RIDICULE FOR STUDENT DEBT SPIN

"When individuals's lives and their property are in danger like this, all of us must work collectively no matter celebration traces," DeSantis mentioned on Fox News. "The Biden administration has authorised our request for a pre-landfall declaration and did that in a short time, so we're very grateful for that. And it is my sense that the administration needs to assist."

Fox News host Tucker Carlson requested DeSantis in an interview if he thought Florida would get the help it wants in a charged political surroundings. The governor mentioned he was "really cautiously optimistic."

"As you say, Tucker, we stay in a really politicized time," DeSantis mentioned. "However , when individuals are combating for his or her lives, when their entire livelihood is at stake, after they've misplaced all the pieces, if you cannot put politics apart for that, then you definitely're simply not going to have the ability to. So I will work with anyone who needs to assist the individuals of southwest Florida and all through our state."

That did not cease the curiosity and chatter in Washington.

Reporters have requested about Biden and DeSantis throughout every White Home information briefing this week. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre talked about their name unprompted on Wednesday and was nonetheless requested about it by three separate reporters earlier than the briefing ended.

She insisted that there was "no politics" concerned within the name and that the hurricane was all the 2 spoke about. Jean-Pierre mentioned she did not understand how lengthy the decision lasted.

Even the hosts of The View devoted a section to the Biden-DeSantis name.

It was all a far cry from when Biden and DeSantis met final 12 months within the wake of the Surfside condominium collapse. The 2 have been pictured collectively in a comparatively low-key assembly to debate responding to the catastrophe.

Nevertheless, the stakes are completely different this time.

Ian made landfall in Florida shortly after 3 p.m. on Wednesday as a Class 4 storm with winds nearing 150 mph. The Nationwide Hurricane Heart has warned of imminent “catastrophic storm surge, winds, and flooding."

Wherein case the information of a cellphone name ought to be the tip of the Biden-DeSantis saga, argues Republican strategist Doug Heye.

“I do not see what the problem is," he mentioned. "They spoke final night time. Why, how, and the place are they supposed to satisfy earlier than the storm hits? The right authorities of jurisdiction are in common contact, as they need to be.”

Democratic strategist Tom Cochran opined that "in politics, there's all the time an ulterior motive" but in addition downplayed the controversy.

"I do not see this as important, and it is clearly in the perfect pursuits of their mutual constituents in Florida for them to talk," he mentioned. "They're clearly on reverse sides of many political and social points, however relating to the protection and well-being of People, I am fairly certain they're on the identical web page."

Earlier than the decision was introduced, reporters requested why the 2 hadn't spoken, noting that Biden had known as Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR), Gov. Kay Ivey (R-AL), and Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) throughout points of their states. Nevertheless, Biden didn't converse with Gov. Tate Reeves (R-MS) through the Jackson water disaster, a degree the White Home emphasised earlier within the week.

Nonetheless, the will-they-or-won't-they story showcases the elevated stature of DeSantis in nationwide politics over the past 12 months. The Florida governor has outraised each Biden and former President Donald Trump in 2022. DeSantis leads Trump by a powerful 8 factors in a USA At this time-Suffolk College ballot asking how registered Florida Republican voters would vote in a hypothetical major between the 2. That ballot is much from an outlier, with quite a few others within the final 12 months having related outcomes.

Trump additionally confronted questions on his interactions with governors throughout his run within the Oval Workplace. Then-Puerto Rican Gov. Ricardo Rossello mentioned Trump refused to satisfy with him about Hurricane Maria in 2019. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI) additionally blamed Trump throughout his response to the pandemic, saying he left governors "on our personal" to acquire ventilators.

Biden and DeSantis have engaged in lots of proxy battles as DeSantis rises as a doable 2024 presidential candidate, clashing over immigration, flying immigrants to Martha's Winery, Massachusetts, and parental rights, amongst different points.