Christie hits back at criticism for post-storm campaigning

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was frustrated at a New Hampshire town hall attendee who asked why he wasn’t in his home state after a major snowstorm. 

“I don’t know what you expect me to do. Do you want me to go down there with a mop?” the GOP presidential candidate said at a Monday campaign event in the first-in-the-nation primary state. 

{mosads}Christie fired back that only one county in the state suffered flooding and that the state was in good shape after the storm. 

“The fact is we had all roads clear, we had NJ Transit back up, and for the people who did sustain some flooding, we had folks on the ground to evacuate them if they needed to be evacuated. Nobody evacuated.”   

Christie said that most people in the state had their power restored and noted that the state Department of Transportation released a report on Monday that there was no residual flooding. 

“For your friends and family who are concerned about why I’m not there, I just wonder what it is they think I’d be doing today,” Christie said. 

“I’m the governor. I’m not the chief engineer. I run a government of 60,000 people. They know exactly what they need to do,” he continued, adding that he spoke on the phone with those people “six different times today.” 

But Christie offered to call the family of the attendee who questioned why he wasn’t still in New Jersey.

“If you’ve got the names and numbers of those family members, you give them to me before you leave, I’ll call them personally tonight,” he said, adding that he’ll reassure them about the progress after the storm.

Christie has been repeatedly scrutinized for spending time out of his home state to campaign for president.

The New Jersey governor has been focusing on New Hampshire in his quest for the GOP nomination. Christie was gaining momentum in the Granite State, but currently sits in sixth place about two weeks out from the primary, according to a RealClearPolitics average of polls.