Seeming to gloat Thursday night, MSNBC anchor Joy Reid argued that despite all his political opposition to President Joe Biden, Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., has to go "hat in hand" and ask Biden for federal assistance in the wake of Hurricane Ian.
Reid mentioned the irony of DeSantis asking for government aid now, when he voted against giving it to New York and New Jersey for their storm damage while he was in Congress and a member of the Tea Party movement.
Reid made her remarks during the Thursday evening episode of her MSNBC talk show, "The ReidOut," where she spoke with former Republican U.S. congressman from Florida, David Jolly.
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At the outset of the segment, she downplayed Governor DeSantis’ "executive leadership" in this storm situation, saying all he has to do is seek federal aid.
She said, "It’s not even executive leadership. He has to simply – all he has to do now is open his arms and receive federal money. Let’s just be clear, that is the executive leadership."
Reid stressed because of the nature of the damage to Florida homes and the state’s infrastructure, "People are going to have to go to FEMA. People are going to have to go to the feds for that money."
She then dinged DeSantis for once being a U.S. congressman who voted against aid to other disaster-stricken states. "When Ron DeSantis was in Congress, and you guys were in Congress, when he was a Tea Party freshman, when New York and New Jersey faced the exact same tragedy – I mean literally the subways in New York were flooded, people could have drowned in the subway.
She continued: "When Ron DeSantis had the opportunity to make that decision and say, ‘well should the people of New York and New Jersey, who were hit by a catastrophic hurricane they weren’t even used to,’ he said ‘No, that shouldn’t happen.’"
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Reid then dragged Senator Marco Rubio and other conservative lawmakers into the mix, saying, "He, Marco Rubio and other Tea Party members – Senate and House – said, ‘They shouldn’t have that money. It’s too expensive.’"
Clearly finding it amusing, the host added, "He’s now gotta go hat in hand to Joe Biden for aid! It’s something he didn’t even believe in as a Tea Partier."
Jolly added, "[DeSantis] is about to have to justify doing something that is antithetical to his entire ideological narrative – his entire story as a conservative Republican that’s anti-Washington – that people should absorb their own risk and people should take care of their own lives."
