Joe Biden is visiting Florida today see the damage caused by Hurricane Idalia before heading on another vacation in Delaware. He’ll be visiting Live Oak, Florida.

But Governor DeSantis won’t be meeting with Biden today because the security arrangement needed for such a meeting would disrupt recovery efforts.

Here’s more from Washington Times:

President Biden and First Lady Jill Biden are traveling to Florida’s Big Bend region early Saturday to survey damage from Hurricane Idalia, but the president won’t be seeing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.

A spokesperson for Mr. DeSantis, Florida Republican and 2024 presidential hopeful, said in a statement that setting up such a meeting could disrupt recovery efforts.

“We don’t have any plans for the governor to meet with the president,” said Jeremy Redfern, a spokesperson for Mr. DeSantis. “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.”

Mr. Biden announced that he would be meeting with Mr. DeSantis hours before the governor opted to nix the summit. The pair previously met when Hurricane Ian ravaged the state last year.

A spokesperson for the White House emphasized after the meeting’s cancellation that the Bidens’ visit would not impact local recovery efforts.

“Their visit to Florida has been planned in close coordination with FEMA as well as state and local leaders to ensure there is no impact on response operations,” said Emilie Simons, a White House spokesperson.

Instead, Mr. Biden will meet with Sen. Rick Scott, Florida Republican, Suwannee County Chair Franklin White, and Live Oak Mayor Frank Davis.

I’m glad to see DeSantis prioritizing recovery efforts over meeting with Biden. It really shows where his head and his heart are right now and that’s the way it should be. Anything he could gain from meeting with Biden can be handled over the phone.