Biden vows not to abandon Florida

Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden landed in Fort Myers in southwest Florida about a week after Hurricane Ian made landfall and the tides rolled in. The president inspected some of the most vulnerable islands and beaches via a helicopter tour.

He summed up the impressions in his slightly sloppy way.

– He said you can see a lot of damage from the air.

Message to the people of Florida That the federal authorities exist and will support reconstruction for as long as it is needed.

– We won’t leave until this is fixed. Biden said I promise.

The president estimated that it would take years to repair all the damage.

He noted that he has seen several disaster areas in the United States in the past six months – from water shortages and fires in the West to hurricanes in the Southeast.

– There’s a lot going on. And I think that has become the end of the debate about whether or not climate change is happening. We have to do something about it, Biden said.

Visit Fort Myers It featured politically dramatic photos, with Joe and Jill Biden alongside Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis apparently setting his sights on the 2024 presidential campaign.

Since Hurricane Ian made landfall in Florida a week ago, the two big politicians have put political battles aside. They had direct contact by phone regarding the disaster response on several occasions. During his appearance Wednesday in Fort Myers, DeSantis chose to thank the president’s support and disaster management agency FEMA.

When the governor declared a state of emergency, he quickly received support from the White House.

Then it became possible to quickly obtain food, water, ice and other necessities for the vulnerable population of Florida.

“We really appreciated that,” DeSantis said.

Courtesy Joe Biden returned.

– We have very different political views. But we worked hand in hand. In terms of dealing with this crisis, he said, we are far from a step.

For DeSantis, collaboration is across politically complex party lines. With just over a month left until the important midterm elections in the United States, the Republican candidate from Florida is running for re-election as governor. Although there is ample evidence that main-wave average voters welcome leadership in the crisis, the radical right wing can look with honest eyes at any collusion with the Democrats.

If nothing else, he could ask Charlie Crist, who was Florida’s governor in 2009 and embraced then-Democratic President Barack Obama regarding the launch of the stimulus package. Crest’s embrace came under attack from both the right and the left, causing Republicans to try to win the battle for a seat in the US Senate as an independent candidate.

He lost to Marco Rubio at that time. In 2012, Krist endorsed Obama’s campaign for re-election to the White House. He became a Democrat and a member of Congress. Now he is running again for governor of Florida – as an opponent of DeSantis.

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