Chris Carney Comments on Biden and DeSantis Working Together to Blunt Hurricane Ian’s Impact

Chris Carney was quoted in The Hill story “Biden, DeSantis put politics aside with Hurricane Ian bearing down.” The piece provides an overview of the call between President Biden and Governor DeSantis after Hurricane Ian hit Florida—which signaled a shift as Biden hadn’t spoken directly with his potential 2024 political rival in the lead-up to the storm.

Commenting for the story, Chris said that this kind of communication by political rivals in times of emergency is commonplace and that it “benefits Biden and DeSantis to be in discussions.” He added, "I think it’s kind of unsurprising that there would be the Washington game of speculation, ‘will they won’t they.’ But I think ultimately, when it comes to something as potentially catastrophic and devastating as a hurricane as strong as Ian, in this case the best politics is no politics.”

He closed by saying, “Democrats understand that this is a life threatening, catastrophic event and you kind of check your politics at the door in such a case.”

Chris represented Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District for two terms and was a tenured professor of political science specializing in international relations at Penn State University. Prior to running for Congress, he worked at the Pentagon for four years on strategic analysis of the global terrorist threat, ran the Department of Defense’s Policy Counterterrorism Evaluation Group (PCTEG) and was the “Special Projects” intelligence officer for two tours during Operation Southern Watch. Chris received a Presidential appointment as a Commissioner on the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission (MCRMC) and served as a Senior Intelligence Specialist for the National Aviation Intelligence Integration Office (NAI2O).