On Tuesday, Biden criticized DeSantis and other Republican governors for not mandating lockdowns and other measures aimed at containing the delta strain of the COVID-19 virus. Florida has seen hospitalization rates spike in recent days as more delta cases are confirmed.

“If you’re not going to help, at least get out of the way of people trying to do the right thing," Biden said.

On Wednesday, DeSantis was defiant in response to Biden's suggestion.

"Joe Biden suggests that if you don't do lockdown policies then you should quote 'get out the way,'" DeSantis said. "But let me tell you this, if you're coming after the rights of parents in Florida, I'm standing in your way. I'm not gonna let you get away with it."

The governor also called out Biden over mask mandates in schools. Last Friday, DeSantis issued an executive order ordering school districts not to mandate the use of masks or they could risk losing state funding. Some school districts have already said they will defy the governor's order.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – As a result of the increase in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, the state of Florida requested 300 ventilators from the federal government, according to a Department of Health and Human Services planning document obtained by ABC News.

The request was made on Friday “to replace expended state stores,” the document said.

The ventilators were expected to be delivered on Monday, though it was not said how they will be allocated.

Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday that he was not aware of such a request when asked about it.

More than a year later, and now under President Joe Biden’s administration, the amount has spiked to some $15 billion — a largely unused stockpile of federal relief funds designated to pull Florida schools out of the COVID pandemic and mitigate its effects for this school year as well as the next few school years, according to data from the U.S. Department of Education.

Most of the dollars have yet to be disbursed to school districts for this past school year and this coming school year, and the 2021-22 academic year is just a few weeks away.

That means initiatives outlined by the federal government, such as tackling student learning losses during the pandemic, are stuck waiting to help vulnerable students.

“Every minute these funds sit in Tallahassee is time that the funds are not being used to help Florida’s students,” wrote Andrew Spar, president of the Florida Education Association, a statewide teacher union, who sent a letter to Gov. Ron DeSantis on July 21.