Ron DeSantis Blows a Fuse Upon Hearing Hurricane Damage Costs

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Thursday got angry at a reporter who asked him about a Wall Street analyst’s estimate that Hurricane Milton could cost the state over $50 billion.

“How the hell would a Wall Street analyst be able to know? It’s been dark all day. What, you just going to know that you’re gonna do? I mean, give me a break on some of this stuff,” DeSantis said.

“I’m not saying there’s not going to be damage, there will be, [Hurricane Milton] cut across the state in a way that Helene did not,” DeSantis added.

Earlier this week, the discussion on Wall Street estimated the hurricane as having a “mid-double-digit billion dollar loss.” DeSantis downplayed the storm’s impact compared to Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Ian in 2022, while noting that certain areas did suffer heavy damage.

“In terms of just right now, the morning after, if I think back to, like, Hurricane Ian, I don’t think that you’re looking at similar amount of damage to Ian, and then, with Helene, there may end up being more overall damage, there may not, I don’t know, but definitely the surge did not reach Helene levels,” DeSantis added.

Earlier this week, DeSantis refused to speak on the phone with Kamala Harris, saying such an overture “seemed political.” The vice president called out the Florida governor for engaging in “political gamesmanship instead of doing the job that you took an oath to do, which is to put the people first.”

DeSantis does seem to be keeping politics in mind in his response to the storm, staying away from outright praising the Biden administration’s help even as he boasts of being able to “leverage any resources available to us.” But it’s puzzling as to why he would get upset at a reporter for a legitimate question regarding the financial impact of the hurricane.