GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas issued a harsh rebuke after Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie accused him of “playing politics” with Superstorm Sandy relief funds.
Cruz told The New York Times he was “quite confident that nobody in Texas gives a flip what Chris Christie has to say,” in an interview published Friday. “And it seems not many people in New Jersey do either,” he added in reference to Christie’s floundering approval ratings.
Cruz concluded by recommending that Christie “go back to the beach,” in a thinly veiled dig at the public relations crisis ignited in early July after Christie was photographed lounging on a publicly-owned stretch of the Jersey Shore during a government shut down that prevented New Jersey residents from accessing public beaches.
Christie publicly assailed Cruz for his 2013 vote against the Sandy relief bill days after Hurricane Harvey struck.
“Senator Cruz was playing politics in 2012, trying to make himself look like the biggest conservative in the world,” Christie told CNN last week. Christie said he found it “disgusting,” to see Cruz “in a recovery center with victims standing behind him as a backdrop.”
Cruz has repeatedly defended his opposition to the Sandy relief bill, arguing he was moved by the plight of Sandy victims but objected to the spending package due to the inclusion of millions in extraneous spending unrelated to disaster relief.
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