US President Joe Biden visited North Florida, Saturday, to inspect the damage caused by Hurricane “Adalia” and to reassure those affected, amid uncertainty about his meeting with Ron DeSantis, the Republican state governor and his potential rival in the presidential elections.
Biden, who belongs to the Democratic Party, told reporters Friday that he will meet with the governor during the visit. But DeSantis’ spokesman, Jeremy Redfern, said later that no meeting had been planned.
In response to a question on Saturday about the fate of this meeting, Biden told reporters, “I don’t know. There will be no (meeting).”
DeSantis, 44, is competing to run for the presidential elections scheduled for 2024, seeking to oust Biden from the White House, but he is behind former President Donald Trump in opinion polls. Biden, 80, plans to run for a new term.
Biden and DeSantis held several conversations last week about the storm that hit Big Bend, Florida, with Category 3 winds of about 200 kilometers per hour.
The White House said Biden informed DeSantis of the visit during a conversation they had with him on Thursday, and the governor did not raise any concerns at the time.
“(Biden’s) Florida visit was planned in close coordination with the Federal Emergency Management Agency as well as state and local leaders to ensure that response operations are not impacted,” White House spokeswoman Emily Simmons said.
FEMA Administrator Dean Creswell said Saturday that the failure to hold the meeting would not affect recovery efforts.
She told reporters that search and rescue operations had ended and officials were now focusing on restoring power to the affected areas.
She stated that less than one percent of the Florida population was still without electricity as of Saturday, but this percentage is much higher in areas directly affected by the hurricane.
#Biden #inspects #Hurricane #Adalia #damage #Florida