The Washington Examiner’s Byron York assessed that Vice President Kamala Harris was trying to get “political benefit” with her slight at Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), proclaiming her attempts to contact the governor were ignored.
Harris rebuked DeSantis for being “selfish” for not answering her calls amid the recovery-and-relief efforts following Hurricane Helene, adding that “it’s a shame” she and DeSantis cannot work together when talking about it on The View. York, the Washington Examiner’s chief political correspondent, argued DeSantis does not need to speak to Harris regarding the recent hurricane, suggesting she may have had ulterior motives with her attempt to reach out.
“I think she was trying to get some political benefit out of this,” York argued on Fox News’s America’s Newsroom. “And after having watched a few hurricanes, there’s only really one way to get political benefit out of a terrible event like a hurricane, and that’s to do a really good job handling it. And the governor of Florida has done that in the past, he knows how to do this. As you said, he has talked to the president, he’s talked to FEMA.”
York also suggested there was nothing inherently wrong with Harris trying to contact DeSantis amid the state’s recovery from Hurricane Helene and preparation for Hurricane Milton. However, York said it “seems like a bad idea” to publicize the debacle.
President Joe Biden stated Tuesday that DeSantis has been cooperative with the White House concerning the Hurricane Helene recovery-and-relief efforts and that the Florida governor is doing “a great job.” Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has similarly praised DeSantis for being “in total command” of Florida’s preparation for Hurricane Milton.
I’m watching Governor DeSantis’ hurricane briefing. The guy is in total command. Very impressive.
— Jeb Bush (@JebBush) October 8, 2024
DeSantis pushed back against the vice president’s accusation that he’s “selfish” for ignoring her, suggesting she should “look in the mirror.” He also questioned why Harris is trying to offer her aid with the recovery efforts when she has not offered this help with past hurricanes and suggested, “We know it’s because of politics.”
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During Harris’s appearance on The View, the vice president revealed that “there is not a thing that comes to mind” when asked if she would have done anything differently during Biden’s presidency. York argued this comment poses trouble for her campaign strategy of running as “a change candidate,” and predicted many commercials in support of former President Donald Trump would use this sound bite in the last four weeks before Election Day.
Ahead of the election, Trump is up by 2 percentage points in Arizona, a key swing state in the Electoral College. Pennsylvania, another swing state, has the two candidates tied at 48%.