Ron DeSantis: feds, not Florida, have role to play in Bahamian crisis

TALLAHASSEE — As the humanitarian crisis deepens in the Bahamas, the head of neighboring Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis, is taking a hands-off approach, telling reporters Monday that it is not the state’s responsibility to assist in the recovery efforts.

“This is a relationship with a foreign country. The federal government is doing it,’’ DeSantis said after an appearance at Florida State University. He said that after an aerial tour of the Bahamas on Friday, he concluded the U.S. Coast Guard is “doing a great job”

“The idea that it should be the state’s responsibility, if you think that then you have no idea how our system of government works,” he added. “I’ve been in contact with them. The idea that I would overstep the (U.S.) State Department is just absurd.”

DeSantis has urged people to donate to those affected by Hurricane Dorian through the Volunteer Florida web site, and encouraged Floridians not to cancel their vacations to the Bahamian islands less affected by the storm. But his approach is a sharp contrast to how his two predecessors responded to natural disasters in the Caribbean in recent years.

https://www.tampabay.com/florida-politics/buzz/2019/09/09/ron-desantis-says-feds-not-florida-have-role-to-play-in-bahamian-crisis/