President Joe Biden tripped to Florida on Saturday to survey the destruction from Hurricane Idalia and comfort victims of the storm, but he did not meet Governor Ron DeSantis, a potential presidential rival, who opted not to come.
Biden, who praised DeSantis during the visit, said he was not disappointed by the governor’s absence and said DeSantis had helped plan the trip.
DeSantis’ spokesperson said on Friday the governor had no plans to meet Biden, saying “the security preparations alone that would go in to setting up such a meeting would shut down ongoing recovery efforts.”
Biden took an aerial tour and received a briefing from local officials and first responders in Live Oak, a town that was hit hard by the storm. He saw houses with fallen trees on them and said no one “intelligent” could doubt that climate change was happening.
But politics hung over his trip. The president, who has spoken to DeSantis multiple times this week, had said on Friday they would meet in person. The decision by the governor caught the White House off guard.
Asked if he was disappointed DeSantis did not come, Biden said no.
“No, I’m not disappointed. He may have had other reasons… But he did help us plan this. He sat with FEMA and decided where we should go, where would be the least disruption,” Biden told reporters, while standing in front of a damaged house.
Biden said he was pleased that Senator Rick Scott, a Republican former governor of Florida, had come despite their disagreements on many issues. Scott, a supporter of former President Donald Trump, wore a hat that said “Navy” on the front and “45” on the back. Trump was the 45th U.S. president.
DeSantis, 44, spent the day about 50 miles (80 km) south, touring small communities along Florida’s Gulf Coast, according to his official schedule.
Responding to an earlier question on Saturday on what had happened to the meeting, Biden had told reporters: “I don’t know. He’s not going to be there.”
DeSantis is running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination to oust Biden from the White House, but trails Trump in opinion polls. Biden, 80, is running for re-election.
Biden and DeSantis have spoken regularly this week about the storm, which pummeled Florida’s Big Bend region with Category 3 winds of nearly 125 mph (200 kph). On Wednesday, the president said politics had not crept into their conversations.
