Why DeSantis seems to be dodging Kamala Harris' hurricane calls

Then-New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was not a fan of President Barack Obama in 2012. As a top surrogate to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and a rising star in Republican politics, he railed against Obama's handling of the economy for most of the year. Calling him out of touch and ineffective.

But when Superstorm Sandy raged across the Atlantic in late October (just days before the 2012 election), killing 117 Americans and causing tens of billions of dollars in property damage, Christie put all that aside—in a way that seemed strange, given all that affects current events.

The governor worked closely with Obama, spoke to him regularly on the phone, toured the devastated Jersey Shore with him and praised his relief efforts in interviews. He once tried to get him to talk about Romney again when he was being directed by a Fox News host.

Christie rejected the suggestion. “If you think I don’t give a damn about presidential politics right now, then you don’t know me,” he said.

It was a high point of bipartisan cooperation after a natural disaster, but it also appears to have been the death knell. On Wednesday night, Hurricane Milton made landfall near Siesta Key, Florida, as a Category 3 storm. Today, Americans will wake up, assess the damage, and try to rebuild—again. But it's worth remembering that the trail of destruction left by Superstorm Sandy also appeared to include the long tradition of bipartisanship in the wake of a natural disaster.

A key reason for this is that Christie's cooperation and praise was seen as helping a Democratic president win re-election.

Polls showed that voters gave Obama sky-high marks for his handling of the hurricane, and exit polls suggested that may have been a major factor in the late-deciding voters who supported him. This is largely thanks to Obama's efforts, but Christie's praise may have helped convince Republican-leaning independents who didn't see it firsthand.

But even if Christie didn't influence the race, many staunch Republicans believed he did. A photo of Obama placing his hand on Christie's shoulder at Atlantic City Airport as the two men shook hands turned into a “hug” in Republican memory. Christie made no apologies for his handling of the storm, but memories of his close working relationship with Obama dogged his failed bid for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, as it was regularly cited as a concern by primary voters.

It still concerns Republicans. Governors who might one day want to run for president are now much more cautious about praising a Democratic president for his handling of a natural disaster.

After Hurricane Ian struck Florida in 2022, Gov. Ron DeSantis was so careful to avoid anything remotely close to a “hug” photo with President Joe Biden that he inadvertently caused the opposite. During their joint tour of Fort Myers, Biden was photographed chatting amiably with a man in a camouflage hat and a “Florida Cracker” T-shirt as DeSantis walked past sullenly.

As embarrassing as that viral moment may have been, it didn't hurt DeSantis' candidacy for the Republican nomination this year. He may not have gotten much closer to the nomination than Christie, but he definitely didn't fail because Republican primary voters feared he might have been too nice to Biden at one point.

Nor did he change course. As Hurricane Milton headed toward Florida, a DeSantis aide told NBC News that he avoided taking calls from Vice President Kamala Harris about Helene's recovery efforts, saying they seemed “political.” (DeSantis later denied the report, claiming at a news conference that he “didn't know she had called” and that no one in his office said it was political.)

Things only got worse from there. Unfortunately, Harris took the bait and said that it was “totally irresponsible” and “selfish” to “play political games” after a natural disaster. DeSantis then hit back, telling Fox News that the vice president “has no role” in disaster recovery and that she, for her part, is “selfish by trying to stumble into this when we're doing just fine.”

This is all deeply stupid. At least 220 people died because of Helene, as some communities were wiped from the map along a 500-mile path of destruction. Milton is expected to produce life-threatening storm surges of up to 15 feet along Florida's west coast. Turning this all into an opportunity to score political points is not only reckless, but will likely backfire on voters affected by the storm.

Hovering over all of this is Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, whose response to Helene has been to spread misinformation, rush to visit the affected area even though it was seen as a nuisance so early in hindsight, and try to use the storm to his political advantage . His allies are no better, with billionaire Elon Musk sharing false claims about the federal response to X and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene sharing strange conspiracy theories about weather control.

To be fair, not every Republican went along with all of this. Sen. Thom Tillis, Rep. Chuck Edwards and state Sen. Kevin Corbin have dismissed conspiracy theories about Helene. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster have spoken professionally about their work with the Biden administration on the relief effort.

But the damage is done. While most elected officials are focused on working together to provide relief to their communities, few are enough to steer the discussion into conspiracy theories and vitriolic attacks. And this is a disaster entirely man-made.