Tampa mayor gets Biden phone call live during press conference
Tampa Mayor Jane Castor answered a phone call from President Biden during a press conference about preparations for Hurricane Ian on Tuesday.
The White House refused to comment on why President Biden has not spoken with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis prior to Hurricane Ian making landfall Tuesday.
Biden has spoken on the phone with multiple Florida mayors ahead of the storm but has so far snubbed the popular Republican governor. Reporters repeatedly pressed FEMA chief Deanne Criswell on why Biden hadn't made the call during a White House press briefing Tuesday.
"In the past, President Biden has made calls to [Republican] governors in situations like natural disasters, [such as] Kay Ivey in Alabama, Asa Hutchinson in Arkansas or the governor in Texas," a reporter began. "Can you articulate how these determinations are made and why it hasn't been made in this case to have the president call the governor?"
"The president is very focused on making sure the federal family has the right resources to support this," Criswell responded. "That is why I contacted the governor right away, and we have a team of my senior leadership embedded with the governor to make sure that we're supporting that."
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during a press conference. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
DELAWARE, WHITE HOUSE PREPARING FOR POTENTIAL MIGRANT FLIGHT TO ARRIVE NEAR BIDEN HOME
"Our focus today is making sure that we have the right measures in place to support the lifesaving activities that need to happen," she added.
"But he's made conversations with the mayors. Is there any reason why not the governor?" the reporter pressed.
"Again, we have a strong team that's in place supporting the governor right now," Criswell responded.
Multiple other reporters pressed Criswell on the issue, but she repeatedly stated that Biden and DeSantis' lack of contact will not impact the emergency response to the storm.
(Getty Images | iStock)
DeSantis' office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Hurricane Ian comes not long after Biden condemned DeSantis for sending two flights of illegal migrants to Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts earlier in September.
DeSantis ripped into critics of the move last week, pointing out that the Biden administration had already been flying migrants across the country before he took action.
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"So, when Biden is flying these people all over the fruited plain in the middle of the night, I didn't hear a peep out of those people," DeSantis said during a rally. "I haven't heard a peep about all the people that have been told by Biden [that migrants] can just come in — and they're going, they're being abused by the cartels. They're drowning in the Rio Grande. You had 50 that died in some shed in Texas. I heard no outrage about any of that."
