Democrat Strategist: Biden ‘Closed the Door’ to Weaponizing Hurricane Ian Against DeSantis

FORT MYERS (FLV) – CNN reported that an unnamed Democrat Strategist believes President Joe Biden ‘closed the door’ to weaponizing Hurricane Ian against Gov. Ron DeSantis. The report follows recent comments near ground zero of Hurricane Ian from Biden complimenting DeSantis’ efforts after the storm.

“At the time of Biden’s remarks, Crist, the Democratic nominee for governor, and his allies were ramping up criticism of DeSantis tied to the hurricane – highlighting the former GOP congressman’s past votes against storm aid and climate change legislation and raising questions about the timing of evacuations in Lee County…” CNN reports.

DeSantis’ Rapid Response Director Christina Pushaw previously said that Florida Democrats were “hoping for the worst.”

Florida’s Voice reported Democrat gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist claimed DeSantis “is working for himself, not Floridians,” pointing out his voting record against Hurricane Sandy relief without adding context of DeSantis’ reasoning.

Crist and the state Democrat Party also promoted a story featuring Floridians who said they were blocked from delivering storm supplies so DeSantis could survey the damage, according to CNN.

“Biden closed the door to that,” an unnamed source/Democratic strategist told CNN. “The President complimenting the governor takes that whole issue off the table.”

During the remarks in Fort Myers, Biden said, “What the governor’s done is pretty remarkable so far,” motioning to a smiling DeSantis.

Biden continued:

 I think he’s done a good job.  He’s — look, I called him, I think, even before he called me, when I heard this storm was on its way.  We’ve worked hand-in-glove.  We have very different political philosophies.  And — but he — we’ve worked hand-in-glove.  And he’s been on — things relating to dealing with this crisis, we’ve been completely in lockstep.  There’s been no differences.

President Biden on Gov. Ron DeSantis’ recovery efforts

DeSantis celebrated the response including heavy cooperation between all levels of the U.S. government.

“We are cutting through the bureaucracy, we are cutting through the red tape. And that’s from local government, state government, all the way up to the president. So, we appreciate the team effort,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis’ efforts on Hurricane Ian have been also praised by former President Donald Trump.

Crist and DeSantis are set to face off in the November Midterm election, less than a month away.

It was previously reported that DeSantis raised nearly 3 million dollars in fundraising more than Crist from Aug. 27 to Sept. 23.

Polling trends continue to give DeSantis a strong, widening lead over Crist.