Check: How Florida’s DeSantis Prepared For Hurricane Ian //

This week, Politico incorrectly reported comments by FEMA Administrator Deanne Kriswell about Florida’s response. However, she also seemed to be inaccurate when she said that she had never acted politically during a natural catastrophe.

Criswell, who is the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s head under the Biden administration spoke Tuesday at a White House press conference about the hurricane that was set to batter Florida.

Politico later changed the wording in its story on that day, but only after it was cited at a Florida press conference to criticize the response of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is a Republican who has criticized President Joe Biden.

Politico reported the following:

Criswell acknowledged concerns over a lax response by Floridians to storm warnings from Floridians who had never experienced a hurricane in Florida and those who have experienced a near-miss’.

Criswell didn’t actually say anything about a “lax reply” during the White House press conference, according to televised comments and transcription remarks.

I am concerned about complacency. We are referring to impacts in a Florida area that hasn’t experienced a significant direct impact in almost 100 years. There are also areas of Florida that have seen a lot more residents than ever before. …

The most important thing is to listen to your local officials. The president instructed me to contact Governor [DeSantis] as soon as possible, before we did the declaration. I did that.

My regional administrator is currently with the governor, making sure we understand the needs. Our focus is on the life safety needs that are currently being met.

Criswell was later asked about “anything unusual” or “any challenges” in contacting local officials.

She replied, “The communication we have had with the state officials has been excellent.”

Politico’s reporting was so infuriating that DeSantis responded during his own press conference held in Florida.

A reporter inquired about FEMA administrator’s concerns about “lax response” to storm, which Politico incorrectly attributed to Criswell.

DeSantis replied, “That is absurd.”

“Stop politicizing it. Stop it. “We declared a state emergency when this thing wasn’t even formed,” DeSantis said to the reporter.

There have been many countries that have put in a lot of work. I understand that you want to attack me. But, you are also attacking other people who work hard. This is completely false. I don’t believe we’ve ever declared a state emergency so early, certainly not since I was governor.

Twitter account DeSantis War Room wrote: “This reporter misrepresented FEMA director’s words.”

DeSantis War Room followed up with a tweet showing how Politico had changed its story’s wording. It stated, “nice stealth editing guys.”

The original report by Politico stated:

Criswell expressed concern about Floridians who have not experienced a hurricane in Florida and those who have experienced a ‘near miss’ when responding to storm warnings.

This was changed by editors at Politico to:

Criswell acknowledged that there are concerns about Floridians not receiving warnings, particularly for those who have never been to a hurricane-prone area and those who have experienced a ‘near miss’.

Criswell, a Democrat, was previously FEMA administrator under Biden. She was the commissioner of New York City’s Emergency Management Office for less that two years before being appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio. She is a veteran of the Air Force and previously worked at FEMA under the Obama administration.

Criswell stated to reporters, “We don’t bring politics into our ability respond to these catastrophes.”

However, DeSantis and the FEMA administrator did not see eye to eye earlier in the year, when Criswell refused assistance to seniors who had survived tornadoes. reported this by The Center Square.

January 16th, tornadoes struck Florida’s Charlotte-Lee counties, causing severe damage to 158 homes. Senior citizens were most affected.

“DeSantis issued an executive decree declaring a state-of-emergency for both counties and requested that the Biden administration declare major disaster. Center Square reported that Florida offered assistance through its Individual Assistance program, and requested assistance from FEMA. “But FEMA denied Florida’s request.”

Criswell wrote to DeSantis that the damage caused by this event was not so severe and large as to be beyond the state’s capabilities. It also affected local governments and voluntary agencies.

“Accordingly,” wrote the FEMA administrator, “we have determined not that supplemental federal aid is necessary.”

Ken McIntyre contributed this report.

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