Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is being widely commended by conservatives for his efforts to assist North Carolinians affected by the devastating impacts of Hurricane Helene.
On Saturday, DeSantis announced that he authorized the Florida National Guard to send air assets to North Carolina to support its hurricane response—as Florida was dealing with the impacts of the hurricane itself.
The next day, DeSantis launched “Operation Blue Ridge,” which in addition to providing supplies to North Carolina, stated that the Florida Division of Emergency Management would provide “rescue” services to Floridians in Western North Carolina.
The efforts are getting praised not just for helping North Carolina, but potentially swinging the results in the state’s election, toward the GOP, which is still reeling from Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s series of scandals.
“Hopefully North Carolina voters remember this on November 5th,” wrote a user discussing DeSantis’ efforts.
According to a press release from the governor’s office, DeSantis’ authorization includes eight National Guard soldiers on response teams, two special missions search and rescue teams, and more officers and experts, as well as supplies that include more than 100 Starlink internet terminals and ten truckloads of water.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency—which received authorization to assist parts of North Carolina, Florida, and South Carolina—says it has more than 1,000 staff on the ground in North Carolina, 19 search and rescue teams, and has brought in 60 trailer loads of water, among other forms of assistance.
Nonetheless, it is DeSantis whom conservatives are crediting the most.
“How is 1 state doing more to help NC than the entire federal gov’t?!” asked one right-winger on X. “This is what happens when nobody knows who is running the country.”
“Ron DeSantis has done more for the North Carolina victims of Hurricane Helene than Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and media outlets aren’t even remotely curious about why that is,” one user wrote, highlighting the conservative claims that Biden isn’t responding to the hurricane despite the federal government’s ample efforts.
She added in a reply to someone stating he should be the next head of FEMA that “he should be the next president, but too many people looked at him, looked at Trump and inexplicably decided Trump was better.”
Echoed right-wing commentator Matt Walsh: “Ron DeSantis is doing more than the President of the United States to help flood victims in North Carolina. A great credit to DeSantis, but a damning indictment of the Biden-Harris administration.”
It’s not the first time DeSantis has gone toe-to-toe against the federal government’s response efforts.
Last October, DeSantis organized evacuation flights for roughly 700 Americans back to Florida from Israel in the wake of the outbreak of the war in Gaza.
At the time of his executive order issuance, DeSantis knocked the Biden administration for “fail[ing] to launch any form of rescue or evacuation operations for Americans.”
The U.S. State Department said it made 5,600 seats available on chartered evacuation flights out of Israel around the same time, though only about 1,500 U.S. citizens and their families used them.
But now, some conservatives think DeSantis’ actions in North Carolina are setting up President Donald Trump to win North Carolina in November.
Currently, Trump leads Harris by an average of 0.8% in North Carolina, according to recent polling. While the state reliably votes red, Democrats had been hoping a recent slate of scandals might put it back in play.
In the governor’s race, Robinson, the Republican candidate, faced calls to drop out after old comments on an adult video site were revealed. Now, Republicans worry he may depress turnout across the state.
Though given the wrath wrought by Helene, with tens of thousands likely to be displaced, it’s unclear how the votes will play out.
“Ron DeSantis may put Donald Trump back in the White House,” mused one person. “Our Governor is taking care of our state while showing more leadership than the current occupants of the Oval. North Carolinans will remember.”
“Governor DeSantis has already done more for the people of Georgia and North Carolina than the entire federal government under Biden-Harris,” concurred someone else. “And the residents of those states (and others) aren’t likely to forget who was AWOL, who was late, and who was getting them needed help.”
“Hopefully North Carolina voters remember this on November 5th,” wrote another user.
Lamented someone else: “It’s enraging that we’ll have to wait another four years for him to take his seat in the White House.”
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