UPDATE: Biden contradicts Harris and praises DeSantis. He is obviously not happy with Kamala:

Kamala: The Florida governor won't take my phone calls

Biden: He's doing a great job that I even gave him my personal cell phone number. https://t.co/LHn1jKTUvL

— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) October 8, 2024

ORIGINAL POST

As Hurricane Milton barrels towards the Florida coast, Kamala Harris did one of the weirdest things I have seen a politician do during a crisis: attack the state governor for not taking a phone call. 

First, let's be clear about the context: there has been a lot of criticism of the Biden/Harris administration over the response to Helene, although little of it has to do with FEMA's performance in Florida as far as I can tell. Ron DeSantis had things so under control that he told the federal government to send its help to North Carolina and Tennessee, where conditions were so much worse. DeSantis even sent Florida National Guard units to help in North Carolina well before the administration activated the military to join in search and rescue. 

Here is the clip of Ron DeSantis categorically denying the report from @ABC that he ignored a call from Kamala Harris. pic.twitter.com/zfH7yDXtdM

— Dustin Grage (@GrageDustin) October 7, 2024

Perhaps that is why DeSantis was her target: he looked good while the administration looked bad. 

Kamala Harris really just went after Ron DeSantis for “playing political games at this moment.”

Harris lied about DeSantis refusing to take her calls, she’s a truly horrible person. pic.twitter.com/PaGJd5KON7

— Dustin Grage (@GrageDustin) October 7, 2024

Second, Harris has no role in hurricane relief. At all. None, zip, nada. DeSantis has been coordinating with the president and with FEMA and has never in the past spoken with Harris about disaster relief. Her phone call--assuming it happened, as DeSantis was unaware she even tried to call--would be a distraction for him and merely a campaign stunt at an inappropriate time. 

Hannity: “Has (Kamala Harris) ever called before?”
DeSantis: “No, she has no role in this. She has never called in her 3 1/2 years as vice president….I don’t have time for her political games…I am laser focused on helping the people of Florida.” pic.twitter.com/W1cI5Ihd5G

— Florida Grand (@florida_grand) October 8, 2024

What was really striking was this: Harris never stops and takes questions about anything on the tarmac. This was clearly planned. The campaign leaked a story to a reporter, go to that reporter to answer the question, and Kamala Harris takes a shot at DeSantis. That is weird. 

Why? Is the polling on hurricane relief that bad? She obviously can't take a shot at the Governor of North Carolina, where things are bad, so she pivots to Florida? Perhaps. 

It’s legitimately crazy that Harris attacked Governor DeSantis, who is prepping for a historically bad storm. She’s politicizing when she and Biden were SLOW on their decisions. Discussed tonight on @cnn (h/t to my friend @EWErickson on the timeline) https://t.co/KUbKYj0JGK pic.twitter.com/MTKqJ72fps

— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) October 8, 2024

Weirder still is that Harris didn't make herself look good, except perhaps to people who already love her and hate Ron DeSantis. She got a bit of a story bump, but the commentators who would normally be on her side didn't rush to defend her. Scott Jennings (a national treasure, IMHO) pushed back on a CNN panel, and nobody came to Harris' defense on the issue. 

Tonight, I spoke with Florida Governor DeSantis and Tampa Mayor Castor for firsthand reports on Hurricane Helene recovery and preparations for Hurricane Milton.

My Administration is ready to support both leaders and the people of Florida with any further resources they may need. pic.twitter.com/imXXVXQnoD

— President Biden (@POTUS) October 8, 2024

The only reason why Harris would do something this weird is that the relief efforts in North Carolina are a political disaster for her, and since North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper can't be the target of her ire she decided to conflate hurricane relief in Florida and North Carolina. Twitter trolls are pushing the narrative that the reason relief is slow is that DeSantis isn't cooperating. As if DeSantis could do more than he already has in North Carolina. 

Governors don’t normally coordinate with VP’s on natural disasters—they coordinate with POTUS

If she’s not de facto POTUS, then talking to her is a waste of time and SHE’S playing politics. If she *is* the de facto POTUS…then she has to answer for Hurricane Helene + fallout https://t.co/EVSHgFPsPm

— John Hasson (@SonofHas) October 7, 2024

In short, Harris has once again created a hoax to forward her campaign, if not a particularly effective one (at least so far). DeSantis was a convenient target, even though he had much more pressing issues to deal with right now: a Category 5 hurricane about to strike his state. 

This was slimy, dishonest, and pathetic. Which, after all, is her brand. Imagine four more years of this.