SUBSTITUTE: Biden tours hurricane damage with Rick Scott while DeSantis hides
Gov. Ron DeSantis missed work Saturday, and Senator Rick Scott looked all too happy to step in to host President Biden as he toured the latest hurricane damage in Florida.
When the nation and a president come to the aid of an area ravaged by a catastrophe, it’s the governor’s job to be there to represent his citizens. But Ron DeSantis still thinks he can be president (or a Senator) and doesn’t want to catch Democratic cooties.
DeSantis refused to show up and meet the President as Biden toured the area hit by Hurricane Idalia.
DeSantis’s spokesperson, Jeremy Redfern said in a statement published by The Guardian that read:
“We don’t have any plans for the governor to meet with the president. In these rural communities, and so soon after impact, the security preparations alone that would go into setting up such a meeting would shut down ongoing recovery efforts.”
Actually, rural areas are probably infinitely easier to handle security after a disaster than urban areas. The governor’s office was just throwing words together that sounded applicable.
DeSantis has made his entire campaign about beating up President Biden while slavishly defending the guy actually kicking his ass, Donald Trump.
Florida Democratic Party chair, Nikki Fried, commented on Ron DeSantis’s very conspicuous absence by saying:
“By refusing to meet with President Biden, he’s proving again what we’ve known for years – Ron will always put politics over people.”
But it took Senator Rick Scott — a former Florida governor himself — to make the moment political art and that much more hellish for DeSantis.
This is especially true in that “roomers” (sic) are everywhere (according to Florida political savant Rick Wilson and Donald Trump — who misspelled “rumor”) that Ron DeSantis may drop out of the presidential primary and run in a primary against Senator Rick Scott.
Thus, when Rick Scott showed up to warmly greet President Biden on behalf of Florida, Scott not only looked like an adult in a non-political event, but he also looked like the leader of Florida and kicked the ass of the guy “rumored” to be considering running against him.
The loathsome Rick Scott did have nice things to say about President Biden. According to the Daily Beast’s report:
“Speaking to local officials and first responders during a disaster briefing in Live Oak, Scott personally commended Biden. ‘First off, the president did a great job with the early declaration before the storm hit. That was a big deal,’ the senator said while standing alongside the president and First Lady Jill Biden. Scott also praised Biden for how ‘fast’ he approved assistance through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. ‘What the federal government is doing is a big deal. I want to thank you for doing that very quickly,’ he exclaimed.”
Scott will never redeem himself in any way, but the words were nice, and the visuals were even better. Twitter couldn’t get enough of Scott stepping in for DeSantis and owning him.
Report continues through and after tweets:
Wow. Credit to Rick Scott for actually ATTENDING and then being willing to give the president credit for quick action.
These moments need to remain NONPOLITICAL. https://t.co/9F6dcwlnXz
— Chris D. Jackson (@ChrisDJackson) September 2, 2023
President Biden even covered for DeSantis, refusing to take the bait and make the disaster partisan.
Again a reporter tries to get Biden to make disaster relief partisan and use the moment to denounce DeSantis.
Again he refuses to be divisive, focusing instead on the disaster relief itself, while praising DeSantis' help in planning and Sen. Rick Scott's (R-FL) efforts throughout https://t.co/ClTNIq7nAI— Nicholas Grossman (@NGrossman81) September 2, 2023
More kicking DeSantis around.
There are many things to dislike about Sen. Rick Scott, but his eagerness to find every opportunity to pwn Gov Ron DeSantis by usurping the spotlight is not one of them. https://t.co/v9mt2tXQlO
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) September 2, 2023
Republicans are really interesting. They harangue Joe Biden to visit Florida, which of course he was going to do anyway, but when he gets there, they largely don’t show up. Sen. Rick Scott came, but that’s because he has a general election electorate to face next year. #FLSEN pic.twitter.com/3N5Tyh74g3
— Russell Drew (@RussOnPolitics) September 2, 2023
Biden would’ve gone anyway. He is the president of the entire United States.
Sen. Rick Scott has been at loggerheads since Gov. Ron DeSantis succeeded him
For those of us who know Scott —a fierce partisan who seldom says a kind word about Prez Biden — this is a total troll of DeSantis who skipped appearing with POTUS today https://t.co/aB0sZfTwhr
— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) September 2, 2023
Rick Scott showing he's marginally more mature than Ron DeSantis. https://t.co/QcniTGtDR6
— Lauren Windsor (@lawindsor) September 2, 2023
That’s about the best that can be said.
In every way, both Rick Scott and Ron DeSantis are truly terrible people, but Scott may have a sliver more maturity and self-awareness than the spoiled brat Ron DeSantis.
And any time Ron DeSantis is shown up and made to look like a d*ck, we’re here for it.
I can be reached at jasonmiciak@gmail.com and on Twitter @JasonMiciak.
Editor’s note: This is an opinion column that solely reflects the opinions of the author.
