The issue stems from early last week when Harris attempted to insert herself into hurricane relief operations by attacking DeSantis for purportedly not taking her phone call. Harris had called DeSantis “utterly irresponsible” and “selfish” even though disaster had just struck Florida and the vice president had no role in disaster relief, The Daily Wire reported at the time.
Shortly after, Biden’s social media team posted on X to say that the president was working with DeSantis.
“Tonight, I spoke with Florida Governor DeSantis and Tampa Mayor Castor for firsthand reports on Hurricane Helene recovery and preparations for Hurricane Milton,” the post said. “My Administration is ready to support both leaders and the people of Florida with any further resources they may need.”
DeSantis countered Harris’ assertions regarding the phone call, stating that he had never received calls from her and that she had not participated in any of his administration’s disaster response efforts before. He emphasized that she had “no role” in the process and wasn’t part of the decision-making chain.
The day after Biden’s post on X, Harris made an appearance on “The View” for a friendly interview, while Biden chose to hold a press conference at the same time. During this press conference, Biden talked about his collaboration with DeSantis on hurricane relief efforts.
“The governor of Florida has been cooperative. He said he’s gotten all that he needs. I talked to him again yesterday, and I said, ‘You’re doing a great job. It’s being all being done. We thank you for it. And I literally gave my personal phone number to call,” Biden said.
At that press conference, Biden also undercut Harris’ campaign message of being a change candidate, stating that she was directly involved in all of his policy decisions.
“Well, she’s — I’m in constant contact with her,” Biden said. “She’s aware of where — we all — we’re singing from the same song sheet. She helped pass all the laws that are being employed now.”
“She was a major player in everything we’ve done, including passage of legislation, which we were told we could never pass,” he continued. “And so, she’s been — and her — her staff is interlocked with mine in terms of all the things we’re doing.”
Tensions between Biden and Harris arose after some Democrats urged Biden to withdraw from his re-election campaign and proposed Harris as the nominee to retain the campaign funds he had raised.
