Christie: Cruz’s excuse for voting against Sandy aid ‘an absolute falsehood’

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) is accusing Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) of lying about his reasons for voting against Superstorm Sandy relief in 2012, calling the senator’s words an “absolute falsehood.”

“That is an absolute falsehood,” he said on MSNBC’s “All in with Chris Hayes” late Tuesday in response to a clip of Cruz saying the $50 billion relief bill was filled with “unrelated pork.”

“What was wrong was for Ted Cruz to exploit the disaster for political gain, and that’s what he was doing,” Christie added.

{mosads}Christie said that Cruz’s comments and vote were meant to make the senator appear to be “the most fiscally conservative person in the world.” 

Christie also said that he told Cruz at the time there would be a disaster in Texas, adding that the governor promised the senator that New Jersey would “stand up and do the right thing.”

“This is what the federal government is there for. If you’re not there for this, then what the hell are you doing?”

Cruz was criticized recently for asking for aid in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, which has afflicted Houston and southeast Texas, after he voted against relief for Sandy in 2012.

Christie said early Wednesday that it’s “disgusting” that Cruz is standing “in a recovery center with victims standing behind him as a backdrop and still repeating the same reprehensible lies about what happened in Sandy.”

“I’m not going to let him get away from it,” he said on CNN’s “New Day.”

Christie also said Congress needs to get back to work next week and pass a bill that starts to fund Harvey recovery.

“It should not be connected to the debt ceiling offsets. If the federal government is not here, Chris, to help people when 50 inches of rain fall on them in historic way, then what the hell are they there for?”

— This report was updated at 10:28 a.m.