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Ron DeSantis slammed for 'ghoulish' smile at Surfside tragedy site: 'Show some respect'

The photo sparked outrage as a massive search and rescue operation entered its fifth day, following the partial collapse of a 12-story residential building in South Florida's Miami-Dade County last week.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was slammed after he posted a picture on his Twitter page where is seen posing with a smile for a photo op with representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) following the Surfside condo collapse that has killed 11 so far, with 150 people still unaccounted for. 

The photo sparked outrage as a massive search and rescue operation entered its fifth day, following the partial collapse of a 12-story residential building in South Florida's Miami-Dade County last week. According to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Assistant Chief Raide Jadallah, approximately 55 of the oceanfront complex's 136 units were destroyed. "We're digging through ... rubbles of concrete the size of basketballs, the size of baseballs," Jadallah said during a press conference in Surfside on Monday, June 28, as crews continued to carefully comb through piles of rubble to search for missing victims. "It's going to take time; it's not going to happen overnight."

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Ron DeSantis' photo op

Posing with reps from FEMA, the Florida governor wrote, "My administration continues to work with @FEMA to support the Surfside community. Today, I visited the family assistance center with representatives from FEMA, non-profits, and state agencies whose mission it is to help Surfside families get back on their feet." While the photo itself had nothing wrong with it, a number of social media users took issue with the fact that DeSantis could turn the tragedy into a photo op where he flashed a smile, even as there were families who frantically waited for their missing loved ones following the condo collapse.

One such was Daniel Uhlfelder, a lawyer and the founder of Remove Ron, a campaign to de-seat DeSantis in the midterm elections. "I’m unsure what Governor DeSantis is smiling about at Surfside," Uhlfelder wrote. 

'He is politicizing a human tragedy'

Soon others joined in, slamming DeSantis for the photo op. "At how he is politicizing a human tragedy and connecting with a wealthy jewish community in Miami for future project$$$" one of them said while another noted, "Weird photo in the middle of a tragedy." A third quipped, "Maybe he can lob paper towels at them in his next photo opp." One more said, "He never mentions that the Mexican Search and Rescue team is there." The next commented, "Everything to him seems to be a photo op. I bet he doesn't know this is a bad thing."

Another asked, "Why is he even there? I’m sure it’s very disruptive & we know he’s not contributing anything." One of them remarked, "Not really the occasion for smiles." One more reacted with, "Probably trying to get another spot on Fox News. How many times has he made an appearance there so far this year?" A person commented, "They were patting themselves on the back at the press conference at 6pm."

One commented tweeted, "Sure do wish I could believe he cares but I don't see it." Another added, "That smile just screams 'People died, but I'm GONNA GET SOME HEADLINES!' Repugnant." More people commented on the inappropriateness of his expression, saying: "I understand using the visit for a photo op (although I don’t agree) but it is ghoulish to have smiles on your face. People are dead, families are shattered. Show some respect."