DeSantis-Biden truce continues after Florida Gov's spat with Harris

In the latest twist of the Gov. Ron DeSantis, President Joe Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris hurricane-response saga, the Florida Governor on Thursday expressed his appreciation for the Democrat President's willingness to be helpful in the Hurricane Milton aftermath.

The same cannot be said of Gov. DeSantis' and Vice President Harris' relationship, which has consisted of back-and-forth snips that President Biden has opted out of addressing.

"[Biden] said he wants to be helpful, and so if we have a request he said send [it] his way," DeSantis told onlookers at a Fort Pierce press conference Thursday afternoon, speaking mere miles from where 5 residents were killed by a tornado-offshoot of the Category 3 Hurricane Milton.

DeSantis continued, explaining that he, Florida Division of Emergency Management director Kevin Guthrie, and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell all spoke to Biden via phone Thursday morning after his Tallahassee press conference.

"He wants to help us get the job done. I appreciate being able to collaborate across the federal, state, and local governments and work together to put the people first," he said.

DeSantis' rare praise of Biden follows a recent spat between the Florida Governor and Harris, the Democrat nominee for president, after NBC reported that DeSantis allegedly ignored Harris' phone calls regarding storm recovery. When asked if the story was true, DeSantis denied any knowledge of a phone call.

Harris then accused DeSantis of "playing political games" in between major hurricanes, calling his actions "irresponsible and selfish." DeSantis responded later that day, saying that the Vice President was the one playing games and being selfish, alleging that she was "trying to get some sort of edge" in her presidential campaign by "politicizing the storm."

That night, he spoke on the phone with Biden, expressing gratitude for the president's assistance.

When Biden was asked if DeSantis should take Harris' call, he non-answered: "All I can tell you is I’m talking to Governor DeSantis. He’s been very gracious, he’s thanked me for all we’ve done. He knows what we’re doing and I think that’s important.”

And now, after a second phone call to the president in a week, DeSantis is reciprocating the bipartisan respect.

Hurricane Milton slammed into Siesta Key in Sarasota County around 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, hours ahead of schedule. Its outer bands spun up at least 19 tornadoes and a record 116 tornado warnings, which are so far responsible for the only confirmed fatalities from the storm.

As of 1 p.m. Thursday, DeSantis said, nearly 3.4 million accounts were out of power after the state had restored power to around 700,000.

At 2 p.m., that number is down to just over 3.2 million. The counties with the most people out of power are Hardee (98%) and Highlands (96%).