Florida’s Governor did not meet with President Joe Biden as he toured Idalia-damaged areas, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t busy.
Per the Saturday schedule from Ron DeSantis’ office, the Governor was engaged in efforts near where the hurricane made landfall earlier this week.
DeSantis’ day began at 9:30am with a briefing at the state Emergency Operations Center.
From there, the Governor went to Keaton Beach for a walking tour at 11:45 and then a visit to the fire station half an hour later.
His next stop on the official itinerary was at 1 p.m., when he visited a recipient of a temporary trailer from the Florida Department of Emergency Management.
The Governor went to Horseshoe Beach from there, visiting a one-stop business resource center at 1:30, followed by a meal distribution with Chick-fil-a in the same community.
The President, meanwhile, is in Live Oak, where he is getting a briefing with Sen. Rick Scott, before remarks at 4:15 p.m. that the Governor could make. Biden believed DeSantis would meet him today, but the DeSantis administration decided against it.
The Governor’s spokesman said Friday that the state couldn’t be assured of security for the President as he tours the most storm-stricken areas in the state, even though such concerns weren’t an issue in the aftermath of 2022’s Hurricane Ian. This raises questions as to why the teams “mutually agreed” on the location, of course.
“We don’t have any plans for the Governor to meet with the President tomorrow,” Jeremy Redfern says. “In these rural communities, and so soon after impact, the security preparations alone that would go into setting up such a meeting would shut down ongoing recovery efforts.”
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