New Jersey Governor Chris Christie made an appearance on CNN this morning, and boy, did he have some things to say about hurricanes. Specifically he wanted to vent his anger about Texas GOP Senator Ted Cruz on his apparent double standard in opposing Superstorm Sandy relief but requesting federal aid for Texas after Hurricane Harvey:
“I have no sympathy for this — and I see Sen. Cruz and it’s disgusting to me that he stands in a recovery center with victims standing behind him as a backdrop… He’s still repeating the same reprehensible lies about what happened in Sandy (and) called on Congress Wednesday morning to work fast on a bill to aid Texas after Hurricane Harvey.”
It’s not as if Christie doesn’t have a point: Cruz has a reputation for blocking bills and generally being a nuisance to slow the legislative process. He voted against the Sandy relief package, which he called “a $50 billion bill filled with pork and unrelated spending that wasn’t hurricane relief.” Which isn’t true, actually, as the Washington Post fact checkers concluded that the bill was largely aimed at dealing with Sandy, along with relatively minor items to address other or future disasters.
And while Cruz is still sticking to his original claim, Chris Christie has absolutely no sympathy now that the shoe is on the other foot:
“Let me be very clear about this: Sen. Cruz was playing politics in 2012, trying to make himself look like the biggest conservative in the world… And what I said at the time, both to him and everybody else, was if you represent a coastal state, don’t do this because your day is going to come and you’re going to expect people to help you.”
Despite this, Christie is urging Congress to act quickly to help the Texans affected by hurricane Harvey, which is proving to be one of the largest natural disasters in the country’s history:
“What I’m urging all the people to do is, Hurricane Andrew, they passed the bill in 10 days. Hurricane Katrina, they passed the bill in six days. Sandy was 66 days. We need to get back to the Andrew and Katrina stage…If the federal government is not here to help people when 50 inches of rain fall on them in a historic way, then what the hell are they there for?”
Point well made, Mr. Christie.
Watch the interview here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUkxoyZXlYs
Feature image via YouTube screengrab.
