2023-09-01 02:36:15
He wants to avoid a political misstep. Joe Biden announced Thursday that he would go to Florida “Saturday morning”, after the devastating passage of Hurricane Idalia, on the land of one of his most virulent political opponents, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis. The US president had been criticized for taking too long to travel to Hawaii after the deadly Maui fires.
“I will go to Florida on Saturday morning,” said Joe Biden, during a visit to Washington of the headquarters of the American federal agency responsible for the response to natural disasters.
On Friday, the Democratic president, who followed the passage of this hurricane very closely, also spoke again with Ron DeSantis.
The latter is a candidate for the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election, during which Joe Biden – whom Ron DeSantis virulently criticizes at the slightest opportunity – will seek a second term. Any meeting between the two men would therefore be very politically charged.
Second visit in less than a year
In October 2022, the Republican governor and the Democratic president had already seen each other in similar circumstances, when Joe Biden had visited Florida after the passage of another hurricane, Ian.
Idalia, which caused record high water levels and widespread flooding in Florida, then continued its destructive course on the southeastern coast of the United States as a tropical storm.
It will take time to assess the damage caused by this hurricane, which carried winds of up to 215 km / h and caused water levels to rise up to 5 meters in certain coastal areas.
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