Florida Governor Ron DeSantis decided to take the high road and not criticize the Biden administration for its response to hurricane Ian, even after Fox host Tucker Carlson tried to bait him into doing so.
Tucker Carlson tried to set up the Governor to complain about the lack of federal help from President Joe Biden in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian’s path of destruction in Southwest Florida. But, instead of taking the easy bait, DeSantis instead focused on the possibility of collaboration between federal and state governments in order to better help the people of Florida during their time of need.
While the eye of Hurricane Ian was passing over his state, DeSantis appeared on Fox News prime time to talk about his state’s response to the storm.
Carlson seemed unable to resist attempting to take a swing at the Biden administration as the interview came to a close:
“When a natural disaster like this strikes the state, it is common; I think it’s always the case that the state receives federal aid,” Tucker said “Given how politicized things are at the moment, are you confident you’re going to get the federal support Florida needs?”
DeSantis’ response was surprisingly low key and did not indulge in partisan rhetoric:
“So I actually spoke with the president. He said he wants to be helpful,” DeSantis claimed “So we did submit a request for reimbursement for the next 60 days at 100%. That’s significant support. It’s a significant storm.”
“So we haven’t heard back from it. I’m actually cautiously optimistic that we do,”
President Biden has since approved the major disaster request DeSantis had previously referred to
“As you said, Tucker, we live in a politicized time, but when people are fighting for their lives, when their livelihood is at stake, lost everything, if you can’t put politics aside for that, you won’t be able to,” the Florida Governor said “I’ll work with anybody who wants to help the people of southwest Florida and throughout our state.”
While the damage of Hurricane Ian is still fresh in the minds of Floridians, it appears that, given his stellar response to the crisis, their Governor’s stalwart leadership may be even fresher in their minds come this fall’s election day.
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DeSantis impresses me more and more every day. He sees problems, he develops solutions and he implements them. He does all this in a calm, low-key way and it always seems to be the most logical response. He is not a loud-mouthed braggart, but he is not a pushover. DeSantis has something that is rarely seen in politicians: common sense. If he decides to make a run for the presidency in 2024 he will be a formidable candidate.