Culture

Chris Christie Angrily Berates Ted Cruz For Lying About His Hurricane Sandy Relief Bill Vote

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz has come under fire for his apparent hypocrisy in calling for federal aid for Hurricane Harvey relief in Texas, since the Tea Party darling previously voted against the very same for Hurricane Sandy in 2012. When confronted with his conflicting attitudes toward congressional relief, Cruz claimed “that particular bill is it became a $50 billion bill that was filled with unrelated pork.” What’s more, the Senator — adorned in dry rain gear while standing front of a major shelter in Houston — suggested it was wrong to “exploit a disaster when people are hurting to pay for their own political wish list.” Oops.

Needless to say, politicians and journalists pounced on Cruz’s claim of “unrelated pork,” which was summarily debunked by the Washington Post. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie cited this and other fact checks during his Tuesday night and Wednesday morning appearances on MSNBC, where he accused Cruz of lying. On All In with Chris Hayes, he said:

“What was wrong was for Ted Cruz to exploit the disaster for political gain, and that’s what he was doing. The fact of the matter is, that is an absolute falsehood that two-thirds of the $50 billion did not go to Sandy aid. Is an absolute falsehood. It was untrue when it was said then, and let’s remember what Senator Cruz was trying to do at the time. He was trying to be the most conservative — the most fiscally conservative — person in the world.”

Meanwhile, after MSNBC’s Morning Joe played the same Cruz clip on Wednesday, co-host Joe Scarborough suggested the panel play a word association game. Christie’s immediate response was “crap.” Continuing with the so-called game, the governor said of Cruz: “He talks about playing politics, [but] that’s what he did with people’s lives in 2012 and 2013. He was playing politics to try to make himself look like the most conservative guy in town.”


UPDATE: Christie also appeared on CNN’s New Day, where he said “we need to get back to the [Hurricanes] Andrew and Katrina stage,” when Congress passed disaster relief bills in less than a week. Sandy’s relief bill, by comparison, apparently took 66 days to pass. He also, unsurprisingly, had additional things to say about Cruz. “It’s disgusting to me that he stands in a recovery center with victims standing behind him as a backdrop, and he’s still repeating the same reprehensible likes about what happened in Sandy. It’s unacceptable to me, and I’m not going to let him get away with it.”

(Via MSNBC and Huffington Post)