DeSantis Responds To Kamala Harris' Comments On 'Equity' In Hurricane Relief Allocation

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Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) responds to Vice President Kamala Harris's "equity" comments pertaining to Hurricane aid.

People may be denied answers to questions about FEMA, DeSantis said. Is this tied to Kamala Harris's suggestion that they're going to use things like racial equity rather than just the merits?

I can tell you I spoke with the FEMA administrator. They promised to do it on the merits. We're going to make sure it's on the merits. I think the thing that Kevin Guthrie, our division of Emergency Management director, has pointed out is that getting denied by FEMA does not mean you're ultimately not going to get it. Sometimes you may need to provide more substantiation.

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So just see what they're looking for. You can go to the DRCs. We've got a number of Disaster Recovery Centers now throughout Southwestern Florida and actually throughout the affected counties. People can go there. They can help you get through this process.

It is a bureaucracy. There is red tape when it comes to the federal bureaucracy. But I think that you have an opportunity to provide the information. This is going to go through a bureaucrat's going to look at it, and they're going to need the boxes checked. If not all the boxes are checked, that's the notice you get, but that does not mean that you're ultimately not eligible. I think what it means is that you may need to provide more information now if there are eligible people who are being denied for some type of external characteristic. That's obviously unacceptable, and we will vigorously defend the people of this area.