‘America is with you’

BIDEN: SPREADS MESSAGE OF UNITY WHILE VISITING HURRICANE-HIT FLORIDA

Bitter rivals put differences aside as ‘now is not the time for politics’.

President Joe Biden made a politically charged visit yesterday to inspect the aftermath of deadly hurricane Ian in Florida, while also presenting a united front despite bitter disagreements with Republican critic and potential 2024 opponent, Governor Ron DeSantis.

Authorities say at least 76 people – more than 100 according to US television networks citing local officials – died in one of the most powerful storms to hit the United States.

The category 4 hurricane flattened whole neighbourhoods on the Sunshine State’s west coast – knocking out power for millions of people, with hundreds of thousands still waiting for electricity to be restored yesterday – and then tore up into North Carolina.

For Biden, who visited hurricane-hit Puerto Rico on Monday, the Florida trip also has an inescapable political dimension, taking him into the stronghold of both DeSantis and Biden’s scandal-plagued predecessor in the White House, Donald Trump.

The Democrat, who says he wants to seek a second term despite already being the oldest man yet in the job at 79, could realistically end up facing a rematch with Trump in two years, or a challenge from the up-andcoming DeSantis.

DeSantis has been a caustic critic, as he builds his brand of muscular right-wing politics in a bid to replace Trump as the biggest name in the Republican party.

Biden has returned fire, painting

DeSantis as part of what he says in an increasingly extreme right.

The hurricane, however, has prompted a truce, with phone calls between the two men and acknowledgement from DeSantis that the federal government was quick to provide assistance.

The visit is “above politics”,

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

“There will be plenty of times, plenty of time to discuss differences between the president and the governor,” she said. “Now is not the time.”

Biden’s main goal, Jean-Pierre said, is to check that “the people of Florida have what they need”.

Biden is set to view ravaged areas in southwestern Florida from a helicopter, then receive a briefing from federal emergency management chief Deanne Criswell and DeSantis, among other officials.

Biden, accompanied by First Lady Jill Biden, will also meet small business owners and local survivors of the storm, before making a televised address at Fishermans Wharf, Fort Myers.

He will “confirm his commitment to the people of Florida as they recover and rebuild”, JeanPierre said.

Biden’s visit to Puerto Rico covered similar ground, although there he was updated on recovery from hurricane Fiona, which hit the island last month.

Again, Biden stressed the unity message, telling the territory – which often feels overlooked by the mainland and the federal government – that “all of America’s with you”.

The disagreements with DeSantis, however, are many and will likely resurface as soon as Floridians recommence a semblance of their previous lives.