President Joe Biden and Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, two men running to compete in next year's presidential election, spoke via phone Monday about soon-to-be Hurricane Idalia and the weekend shooting in Jacksonville, Florida.
Biden approved an emergency declaration for the Sunshine State as Idalia approaches, the White House said.
Forecasters said they expected Idalia to become a hurricane Tuesday in the Gulf of Mexico and then curve northeast toward the west coast of Florida.
DeSantis canceled a day of presidential campaign appearances to deal with the crises at home as his state mourns the racist fatal shooting in Jacksonville and prepares for a hurricane.
"The President's action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to coordinate all disaster relief efforts which have the purpose of alleviating the hardship and suffering caused by the emergency on the local population," the White House said in a statement, "and to provide appropriate assistance for required emergency measures, authorized under Title V of the Stafford Act, to save lives and to protect property and public health and safety, and to lessen or avert the threat of a catastrophe."
On Saturday, a white man armed with a high-powered rifle and a handgun killed three Black people at a Dollar General store in Jacksonville before shooting and killing himself, in what local law enforcement described as a racially motivated crime.
"This shooting was racially motivated, and he hated Black people," Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters told a press conference.
DeSantis was heckled Sunday at a prayer vigil for the three victims.
White House officials said Biden again "expressed his commitment to ongoing support for the people of Jacksonville, The Hill reported.
"Even as we continue searching for answers, we must say clearly and forcefully that white supremacy has no place in America," Biden said in a statement on Sunday.
"We must refuse to live in a country where Black families going to the store or Black students going to school live in fear of being gunned down because of the color of their skin. Hate must have no safe harbor. Silence is complicity and we must not remain silent."
Reuters contributed to this story.
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