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CV NEWS FEED // Hurricane Milton continues to rocket across the Gulf of Mexico and is likely to make landfall on Florida’s west coast late Wednesday night as potentially the worst storm to threaten the Tampa Bay region in over a century.
Less than two weeks earlier, the devastating Hurricane Helene tore through several states in the Southeast, including Florida, causing extensive damage and over 200 deaths – many of them in North Carolina.
As Florida prepares for Milton, critics across the political spectrum have accused Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris of “politicizing” the historic 2024 hurricane season and taking a partisan swipe at the state’s popular Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
While speaking to reporters on an airport tarmac Monday, Harris was asked about allegations promulgated by NBC News and other media sources that DeSantis was not answering her calls related to the pair of storms.
“You know,” she answered, “moments of crisis, if nothing else, should really be the moment that anyone who calls themselves a leader says they’re going to put politics aside and put the people first.”
“Playing political games at this moment in these crisis situations … is just utterly irresponsible, and it is selfish,” Harris claimed. “And it is about political gamesmanship instead of doing the job that you took an oath to do.”
Hours after the incumbent vice president’s accusation, DeSantis revealed during an interview with FOX News’ Sean Hannity that Harris has never called him before – despite his having to handle a number of storms under her administration.
“I’ve been in touch with both FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] and the president [Joe Biden], as well as marshaling all our state agencies, and working to support our local communities,” the governor said.
“For Kamala Harris to try to say that my sole focus on the people of Florida is somehow selfish is delusional,” he emphasized. “She has no role in this.”
“In fact,” DeSantis continued, “she’s been vice president for three-and-a-half years.”
The Florida Republican noted that he has “dealt with a number of storms” under the Biden-Harris presidency and said that Harris “has never contributed anything to any of these efforts.”
“So, what I think is selfish,” DeSantis indicated, “is her trying to blunder into this.”
When asked by Hannity if Harris “ever called before,” DeSantis responded, “No!”
>> BIDEN-HARRIS FEMA GAVE $1 BILLION TO MIGRANTS, MAYORKAS SAYS FEMA ‘DOES NOT HAVE THE FUNDS’ <<
Harris “has no role in this process,” the governor reiterated. “I’m in contact with the president of the United States [Biden], I’m in contact with FEMA Director [Deanne Criswell].”
On Sunday, Criswell wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that she had just spoken with DeSantis to discuss the threat of Milton, which was then a tropical storm.
Also during the Monday night interview, DeSantis told Hannity: “I’ve had storms under both President Trump and President Biden, and I’ve worked well with both of them.”
Harris is “the first one who’s trying to politicize the storm,” DeSantis said, “and she’s doing that just because of her campaign. She’s trying to get some type of an edge.”
“She knows she’s doing poorly,” the governor stated, “and so she’s playing these political games.”
“I don’t have time for political games,” DeSantis stressed. “I’ve got people whose lives are on the line.”
>> MONDAY: HURRICANE MILTON CONTINUES TOWARD FLORIDA <<
On Tuesday, Biden told reporters that DeSantis “has been cooperative” – a statement that appeared to contradict the comments Biden’s vice president made just the day before.
DeSantis has “said he’s gotten all that he needs,” the outgoing president added. “I talked to him again yesterday and I said … I know you’re doing a great job.”
During a panel appearance on Monday’s episode of CNN NewsNight, Republican strategist Scott Jennings accused Harris of “politicizing” the impending massive storm.
“She’s attacking the governor of a state that’s about to get lashed with one of the most historic hurricanes we’ve ever seen,” Jennings said. “Is she crazy?”
“He did not ignore her call,” the strategist repeatedly emphasized. Jennings added that DeSantis did speak to Biden, and the Florida governor “has said time and again that he and the federal government are working well together.”
“So, who here is politicizing this?” Jennings asked. “Harris.”
To this, fellow panelist and left-wing columnist Jay Michaelson replied: “I hate to agree with Scott on anything, but I agree in this case.”
“I’m from Florida. I grew up in Tampa,” Michaelson noted. “And I am no fan of Ron DeSantis but he is doing what a governor should do. I think this is a distraction we shouldn’t be paying attention to.”
Later in the segment, Jennings called out the Biden-Harris administration for what he characterized as slow decision-making in anticipation of Milton.
>> RELATED: BIDEN-HARRIS FEMA LAMBASTED OVER HELENE RESPONSE <<
“There is a conversation to be had here about spending priorities, yes, and also about presidential decision-making, which in my opinion, and in the opinion of a lot of Republicans, was really, really slow,” he said.
Conservative journalist Dustin Grage took to X praising Jennings’ remarks as a “takedown.”
“Kamala Harris going after Ron DeSantis in regard to Hurricane Milton is probably the biggest unforced error she has made this entire campaign,” Grage wrote.
DeSantis joined FOX and Friends on Tuesday morning where he warned that the “Tampa Bay area is very low-lying, Pinellas County where I grew up is surrounded by water.”
“It is just vulnerable to storm surge generally,” he added. “This is a storm that’s going to be hitting sometime Wednesday night, early Thursday morning. The water’s already going to be high with the tide. So, that’s a huge, huge concern.”
“The forecasts are that it will make landfall weaker than it is today,” he said. “Let’s pray that’s the case.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, Milton was a Category 4 hurricane, slightly down from its Category 5 status the previous day. ABC News reported that by the time the storm reaches the Florida Gulf Coast, it may be “possibly as a Category 3 hurricane.”
Even so, the storm would be historic as the heavily-populated Tampa Bay area “has not been hit directly by a major hurricane since 1921,” TIME noted.
Meteorologists widely define “major hurricanes” as storms Category 3 and above.
According to the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale (SSHWS), Category 3 hurricanes have wind speeds between 111 and 129 miles per hour and threaten “devastating damage.”
Category 4 hurricanes have wind speeds between 130 and 156 miles per hour and threaten “catastrophic damage,” and Category 5 hurricanes have wind speeds upwards of 157 miles per hour and threaten “cataclysmic damage.”
