JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — As Hurricane Milton thrashed Florida just weeks before the election, President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris seized on storm preparations to try to restore public confidence in the administration’s disaster recovery efforts and to take aim at their Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump.

Mr. Biden held a rare, live televised briefing with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, National Hurricane Center and National Weather Service officials Wednesday afternoon. In another unusual move, he shared the stage with Ms. Harris, who replaced him on the 2024 ticket after fellow Democrats pushed him out of the race. 

Mr. Biden confronted the criticism of his disaster response efforts for Hurricane Helene and later in the day called the complaints “un-American.”

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Ms. Harris, meanwhile, sought to burnish her leadership credentials ahead of the storm, announcing that 1,000 federal personnel have been deployed to Florida ahead of Milton.

“We’ve been working around the clock to prepare for Hurricane Milton and to ensure that people are safe, including ensuring federal, state and local resources are being coordinated in a smart and efficient and effective way,” Ms. Harris said at the televised briefing. “We have also been in constant contact with the leaders in Florida to make sure that we are cutting any red tape that might get in the way of getting relief to folks, to make sure also that communities receive the resources and the support that they need as quickly as possible.”

Ms. Harris jumped into hurricane prep after instigating a public spat with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who she called “selfish” for not taking her call as he prepared the state for Milton, the second hurricane to strike the state in two weeks. The Republican governor hit back hard, telling Fox News that Ms. Harris had never been involved in any Florida hurricane preparations previously and that he was dealing with Mr. Biden and FEMA, not the vice president, in preparation for Milton. 

He called Ms. Harris “delusional,” and he said she was “trying to blunder into this.”

On Wednesday, Mr. DeSantis made no mention of Ms. Harris. He said he has been in contact with FEMA and Mr. Biden but wasn’t counting much on federal help after marshaling massive state resources.

“FEMA is not leading this show. We are leading this show in the state of Florida,” Mr. DeSantis said. “I can tell you, in Florida, we are leading this train. We’re marshaling all available resources, federal, state, and we’re supporting local, and that’s the way it’s going to be, so you can have confidence in that.”

As Mr. Biden touted federal involvement during the briefing, he veered away from storm preparations to attack Mr. Trump and rebut what he called “disinformation” and “lies” about FEMA, which has been roundly criticized for a slow and ineffective response to Hurricane Helene.

That storm made landfall two weeks ago in the Big Bend region of Florida as a Category 4 hurricane and caused a trail of devastation through Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia.

“Over the last few weeks, there’s been a reckless, irresponsible and relentless promotion of disinformation and outright lies that are disturbing people,” Mr. Biden said. “It’s undermining confidence in the incredible rescue and recovery work that has already been taken and will continue to be taken, and it’s harmful to those who need help the most.”

Mr. Biden blamed the misinformation partly on Mr. Trump, who he accused of propagating “an onslaught of lies” about FEMA and the federal response to Helene. 

Mr. Biden said he would be deploying FEMA Director Deanne Criswell to Tallahassee to oversee the federal response to Milton. The storm is expected to remain a hurricane as it barrels eastward across the peninsula on Thursday before exiting into the Atlantic Ocean. 

Milton’s approach gave both Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris an opportunity for a do-over following accusations the administration was slow to help Helene survivors.

The storm left hundreds dead from catastrophic flooding, and many residents, particularly in rural North Carolina, were stranded for days without help from FEMA amid revelations the agency budgeted and spent more than $1 billion to shelter immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally. 

Ms. Harris was criticized for offering impacted residents $750 and then slammed for posting on social media the administration’s plans to send $157 million to Lebanon following Israeli missile strikes targeting terrorists there.

Mr. Trump has accused Democrats of ignoring western North Carolina because it is a GOP stronghold. He called Mr. Biden’s response to the storm the worst he has ever seen and posted on Truth Social that Mr. Biden and Ms. Harris “are universally being given POOR GRADES for the way that they are handling the Hurricane, especially in North Carolina.”

FEMA, meanwhile, is seeking additional funding from Congress.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas warned last week the agency had no funds left to cover hurricanes beyond Helene.

During the briefing Wednesday, he told Mr. Biden, “We certainly do have all the resources. We are well positioned to continue to respond to Hurricane Helene, to respond to Hurricane Milton.”

Ms. Criswell said FEMA is struggling for funding, telling Fox News the agency has been depleted by emergency spending related to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The agency continues to spend billions of dollars to help states deal with COVID-19, even though the pandemic was declared over in 2023. FEMA spent $20 billion in fiscal 2024 on costs related to COVID, including $4.9 billion in September, according to FEMA’s funding activity report. By comparison, FEMA announced Oct. 8 that its spending on assistance for Helene exceeds $286 million.