Joe Biden will visit Florida today to see for himself the extent of the damage caused by Hurricane Italy this week, however, he is not scheduled to meet with the state’s Republican governor Ron DeSandis, although the Democratic president had announced it.

Mr. Biden, who will seek re-election in the November 2024 presidential election, told reporters at the White House on Friday that he intended to meet with Mr. DeSandis, who is seeking his party’s nomination to run for president. the presidency.

But a representative of Mr. DeSandis, Jeremy Redfern, countered that no such meeting is “planned”.

“We are not planning a meeting between the governor and the president tomorrow,” Mr. Redfern said by email. He argued that the security measures required would disrupt ongoing search and rescue operations.

The White House later clarified that Mr. Biden, along with his wife Jill, would meet with families affected by the hurricane.

“Their visit to Florida was planned in close coordination with FEMA [σ.σ. την ομοσπονδιακή υπηρεσία αντιμετώπισης καταστροφών] and state and local authorities to ensure that search, rescue and recovery operations are not affected, said Emily Simmons, a spokeswoman for the presidency.

The White House noted that Mr. Biden had informed Mr. DeSandis on Thursday that he would visit Florida, and the governor expressed no concerns.

The announcement and denial of the meeting between the two men indicates that political expediency is overshadowing the response to the disaster.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Crissy, who is also running for the Republican nomination, was heavily criticized in 2012 when he extolled Democratic President Barack Obama in 2012 during a visit to his state following the devastating Superstorm Sandy. .

Mr. Biden spoke with Mr. DeSandis repeatedly by phone this week ahead of the hurricane’s impact. On Wednesday, he declared that he does not see any partisan expediency entering into these talks.

“I think he trusts my judgment and my will to help. And I trust him to be able to say that this is not about political expediency. It’s about helping the citizens in his state,” he had said.

Mr. Biden has asked Congress to approve billions of dollars worth of emergency funding after a series of disasters.