White House Hits Back at DeSantis for Rejecting Kamala Phone Call: 'We Are Doing the Job That Is Needed'

White House_10072024_1 — White House Press Sec. Karine Jean-Pierre slammed Gov. Ron DeSantis for ignoring calls from the White House ahead of Hurricane Milton hitting Florida. Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

The White House is hitting back at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for intentionally ignoring calls from Joe Biden and Kamala Harris ahead of Hurricane Milton, a Category 5 storm expected to make landfall near Tampa Bay on Wednesday.

When asked about communication between DeSantis and White House, and the governor ignoring Biden and Harris' calls, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said "that is something for the governor to speak to himself."

"If you have the president and you have the vice president reaching out to offer up assistance, provided to your constituents... to make sure we are doing everything that we need to do from a federal response. and we're reaching out and offering our support, that's for the governor," Jean-Pierre said in a clip shared on X by ABC News. "It's up to him if he wants to respond to us or not."

On reports that Florida Gov. DeSantis refused to take a call from Vice Pres. Harris on Hurricane Milton, White House press sec. Karine Jean-Pierre tells @SelinaWangTV, "That's for the governor to speak to."

"We are doing the job that is needed." https://t.co/oM9TlQQ0vk pic.twitter.com/1KbkGv8gu6
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) October 7, 2024

Jean-Pierre then stated that the White House is working with local and state officials to ensure the federal government is ready to help communities impacted by the storm.

"We are doing the job that is needed, that we believe is needed to protect the communities and to make sure they have everything that is needed," she added.

Jean-Pierre then reiterated that the White House is taking Hurricane Milton "very, very seriously," but it's up to Gov. DeSantis to speak to why he's ignoring their calls.