Opinion: Harris calls DeSantis 'selfish' when Florida needs help, not political games

Vice President and Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris just gave us a look at what kind of leader she’d be in an emergency.

And it’s not great.

Florida is about to get slammed with its second major hurricane in two weeks, and rather than offer to help in any way she can, Harris is throwing barbs at Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.

DeSantis on Monday called the approaching Hurricane Milton a “monster” and is encouraging citizens in its path to evacuate as soon as possible. Meanwhile, he is still busy overseeing cleanup efforts from Hurricane Helene, which resulted in the deaths of an estimated 20 Floridians.

In other words, DeSantis is busy and really doesn’t have time for playing politics.

Yet, that’s exactly what Harris wants to do.

Harris' instinct is to call DeSantis names, not offer support

NBC News reported this week that DeSantis had allegedly opted not to take calls from Harris after Hurricane Helene.

This was Harris’ response Monday when she was asked about it: “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. People are in desperate need of support right now and playing political games with this moment in these crisis situations, these are the height of emergency situations, it’s just utterly irresponsible and it is selfish.”

On their face, Harris’ words are fine. In fact, she is right.

Yet, given the context, she is doing the opposite and putting politics over the people of Florida. All she needed to say was that she’s ready and willing to help in any way she can.

And Harris couldn’t do that.

DeSantis denies even knowing she had called. Rather, he has spoken with President Joe Biden as well as the head of FEMA, the federal agency tasked with handling such emergencies.

In response to Harris’ attack, the governor went on Fox News and said the vice president “has no role in this” and hasn’t bothered to reach out during prior hurricanes.

“In fact, she’s been vice president for three and a half years,” DeSantis said. “I’ve dealt with a number of storms under this administration. She has never contributed anything to any of these efforts.”

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DeSantis: 'I don't have time for political games'

He also said he’s dealt with storms under both former President Donald Trump and Biden and has worked fine with both of them.

“She’s the first one who’s trying to politicize the storm, and she’s doing that just because of her campaign,” DeSantis said. “I don’t have time for political games.”

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If anything, Harris owes DeSantis a “thank you” for his effective management.

Following Helene, the Florida governor said that he had the situation “handled,” and that additional federal assistance should be focused on North Carolina, which suffered even worse.

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Two years ago, after Hurricane Ian’s devastating impact on Florida, DeSantis gladly welcomed the president to see the aftermath. Both men – who had previously exchanged plenty of pointed attacks ahead of the midterm elections – were able to put those differences aside to work for the benefit of those hurt by the hurricane.

“I think he’s done a good job,” Biden said at the time. “We have very different political philosophies, but we’ve worked hand in glove. … In dealing with this crisis, we’ve been in complete lockstep.”

That’s what leadership looks like in a time of crisis.

And Harris isn’t rising to the challenge.

Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at [email protected] or on X, formerly Twitter: @Ingrid_Jacques.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Opinion: Milton threatens Florida. So why is Harris playing politics?