Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) blasted Vice President Kamala Harris for endorsing the port strikes that threaten to “cripple” the economy, which would be especially devastating considering the catastrophic conditions in hurricane-ravaged states that are in desperate need of supplies.
At midnight on Tuesday, tens of thousands of dockworkers belonging to the International Longshoremen’s Association walked off of the job at ports along the East Coast and Gulf Coast. While the Biden-Harris administration would be able to pause those strikes for up to 80 days using the Taft-Hartley Act, President Joe Biden has refused to do so and Harris has actually endorsed the strikes, despite the economic devastation they will cause.
Harris released her only statement on the matter in a post on X, where she showed very little concern for the billions of dollars a day in damage that the strike is causing in the American economy, nor the looming supply chain crisis that it will cause.
“This strike is about fairness,” she claimed. “Foreign-owned shipping companies have made record profits and executive compensation has grown. The Longshoremen, who play a vital role transporting essential goods across America, deserve a fair share of these record profits.”
Statement from Vice President Harris on the International Longshoremen’s Association Strike pic.twitter.com/R8mbSXbbMS
— Kamala HQ (@KamalaHQ) October 2, 2024
During a Wednesday press conference, DeSantis excoriated Harris for supporting the port strikes — noting that, as he is currently leading hurricane relief efforts in his state and helping surrounding states, he is especially “concerned” about the potential for “these ports getting hung up.”
“I think it’s totally unacceptable to try to intentionally deprive people of the supplies they need to be able to rebuild their homes when they’ve been displaced at a natural disaster,” he added. “We should be doing all we can, the federal government should be doing all they can, to make sure all the supplies continue to come in here unabated.”
“Now is not the time,” DeSantis continued. “You already have people that are reeling. You have people that are on their backs. Let’s do everything we can to accelerate the relief. Make sure that they have the equipment, make sure they have the supplies that they need to be able to rehab their properties and rebuild their homes.”
The Republican governor went on to point out that the Biden-Harris administration’s disastrous response to the port strikes could cause a significant delay in victims receiving the supplies that they need.
“I think it would be [a] really, really bad look for the Biden-Harris administration to allow supplies to just be sitting in the Atlantic Ocean, just on ships that are just idling, when you have people, not just here in Pinellas County, but up our entire Gulf Coast in Big Bend, who need it,” DeSantis said. “It’s not something that will be good if they allow this to happen.”
NOW: @GovRonDeSantis speaks out and strongly condemns the hold ups caused by the port strikes & Biden-Harris' inaction:
"It's totally unacceptable."
"The federal government should be doing all they can to make sure supplies continue to come in unabated." pic.twitter.com/g1BLWHWEhr— Bryan Griffin (@BryanDGriffin) October 2, 2024