Ahead of Hurricane Ian's expected landfall in Florida, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday that President Joe Biden has yet to speak directly with GOP Gov. Ron Desantis.
"We don't have any calls to preview or that's locked into there, at this time," Jean-Pierre said when asked by ABC Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega.
Jean-Pierre insisted that the politically tense relationship between the two men is not at issue.
"It's about the people of Florida. It's not about public officials, especially in this time. And so again, the president, as president of the United States, as president for -- for folks in red states and blue states, he's going to keep that commitment. And you have seen him do that over the course of the 19 months when there has been extreme -- extreme events, extreme weather that has happened again in blue states and red states," she said.
When another reporter pointed out that President Biden never spoke with Mississippi GOP Gov. Tate Reeves during the height of Jackson's water crisis, Jean-Pierre said the administration showed up for Mississippians, even without a Biden call to Reeves.
"When you mentioned the governor of Mississippi, they, you’re right, they didn't speak and we still were able to deliver for the folks in Jackson and for the folks of Mississippi. You had our EPA administrator on the ground, you had FEMA administrator on the ground and not just them, but also folks who work for those -- for those two agencies. And you have the Army Corps of Engineers. And so we put the full -- the full power of the administration. We surged resources on the ground, to make sure that we did everything that we can to help the people of Mississippi. This is the same, there's no difference here," she insisted.