LIVE OAK, FL — President Biden and first lady Jill Biden are traveling to Florida’s Big Bend region early Saturday to survey damage from Hurricane Idalia, but the president won’t be seeing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
A spokesperson for Mr. DeSantis, Florida Republican and 2024 presidential hopeful, said in a statement that setting up such a meeting could disrupt recovery efforts.
“We don’t have any plans for the governor to meet with the president,” said Jeremy Redfern, a spokesperson for Mr. DeSantis. “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.”
Mr. Biden announced that he would be meeting with Mr. DeSantis hours before the governor opted to nix the summit. The pair previously met when Hurricane Ian ravaged the state last year.
Mr. Biden told reporters shortly before boarding Marine 1 that he was unsure why Mr. DeSantis did not want to meet with him.
“I don’t know,” Mr. Biden said. “He’s not going to be there.”
A spokesperson for the White House emphasized after the meeting’s cancellation that the Bidens’ visit would not impact local recovery efforts.
“Their visit to Florida has been planned in close coordination with FEMA as well as state and local leaders to ensure there is no impact on response operations,” said Emilie Simons, a White House spokesperson.
Mr. Biden touched down in Gainesville, Florida, shortly after 1 p.m. on Saturday. The president and first lady then boarded a helicopter en route to Live Oak.
FEMA head Deanne Criswell told reporters outside of Air Force One that Mr. DeSantis’ team and the White House had mutually agreed on a location to meet, and that no operational or security concerns were raised at the time, nor have any been raised by state or local officials since.
Ms. Criswell said that Mr. DeSantis did not provide any more detailed reasons as to why he was not going to show up, and did not tell the top FEMA official that he would not meet with the president before going public with his announcement.
Live Oak was specifically chosen for Mr. Biden’s visit because of a lack of operational impact, Ms. Criswell said. She added that the area was already on the road to recovery.
Later in the day, Mr. Biden told reporters that he was “not disappointed” that Mr. DeSantis dodged the meeting, adding that “he may have had other reasons.”
Mr. DeSantis posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that he served Chick-Fil-A in Horseshoe Beach, a town roughly 70 miles from Live Oak, instead of meeting with the president Saturday afternoon.
Mr. Biden instead met with Sen. Rick Scott, Florida Republican, Suwannee County Chair Franklin White, and Live Oak Mayor Frank Davis.
Shortly after an aerial tour surveying damage in the area, Mr. Biden and the first lady arrived at Suwannee Pineview Elementary School to receive a briefing and meet with families impacted by the storm.
Officials lauded Mr. Biden for acting fast in declaring a federal disaster declaration. Mr. Scott quickly thanked the president, calling the move a “big deal” that helped with early preparation for the hurricane.
“These are not rich communities. Many of them struggle. Big deal,” Mr. Scott said. “I want to thank you for doing that very quickly.”
“I want to thank the senator,” Mr. Biden said. “He gave me all the information I needed. I told him we are here for as long as it takes.”
Live Oak Fire Chief Sid Hayes provided a brief update on the search and rescue efforts in Suwannee County, noting that search and rescue in the county was 100% complete by Saturday morning.
Mr. Hayes added that utilities in the area are at 100% thanks to a backup generator.
The president authorized a major disaster declaration after the storm made landfall, which opened up federal assets to be sent to the area. That flow of federal aid includes 1,500 federal personnel on the ground, 540 urban search and rescue personnel operating in the area, three disaster survivor assistance teams to help residents impacted by Idalia, and millions of meals and liters of water for states impacted by the hurricane that request assistance.
- This story includes wire reports.
• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washingtontimes.com.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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