Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie is ramping up assaults on his 2024 rival Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis this week.
In three separate media interviews Tuesday, the previous New Jersey governor referred to as DeSantis a “massive authorities” Republican, torched his voting report on catastrophe reduction and accused him of “taking part in politics” with President Biden’s go to to Florida after Hurricane Idalia. The flury of assaults comes as DeSantis is about to return to the marketing campaign path after canceling marketing campaign occasions to guide the hurricane response in Florida.
Christie, who labored carefully with then-President Obama in 2012 to coordinate Hurricane Sandy restoration efforts, ripped DeSantis for declining to fulfill Biden whereas the president toured areas affected by the catastrophe.
“He was taking part in politics with it, however that is his alternative. I am not in the slightest degree stunned that that is what he selected to do,” Christie stated on “The Brian Kilmeade Present” Tuesday. “You are the governor of the state. President of the US comes and also you’re asking the President of the US or the Congress for vital support, which Ron DeSantis is doing, and particularly in the event you voted in opposition to it 10 years in the past for Sandy support, it’s best to have been there with the president to welcome it.”
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Chris Christie at Wednesday evening’s first GOP debate in Milwaukee. (Fox Information)
“Your job as governor is to be the tour information for the president. It is to verify the president sees your folks, sees the injury, sees the struggling, what is going on on, and what is going on to have to be completed to rebuild it,” Christie added. “And sadly, he put politics forward of his job.”
Hurricane Idalia struck Florida final week as a Class 3 storm, with winds as much as 125 mph, shredding properties, ripping off roofs, snapping tall bushes and turning streets into rivers.
The storm was later downgraded to a tropical storm because it moved north, hitting Georgia — leading to at the very least one confirmed dying — after which the Carolinas.
Biden traveled to Florida over the weekend to tour areas affected by Hurricane Idalia. Nevertheless, DeSantis determined to not meet the president.
White Home officers stated Saturday they have been caught flat-footed by DeSantis’ choice.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, heart, shakes palms following a press convention within the aftermath of Hurricane Idalia on Aug. 31, 2023 in Steinhatchee, Florida. Idalia, which weakened to a tropical storm made landfall at Keaton Seashore, Florida, as a Class 3 hurricane and precipitated heavy rain and flash flooding. (Sean Rayford/Getty Photographs)
Biden had stated earlier he would meet with the governor as he toured areas of Florida broken by Hurricane Idalia, however the DeSantis group contradicted the president.
“In these rural communities, and so quickly after impression, the safety preparations alone that may go into organising such a gathering would shut down ongoing restoration efforts,” stated DeSantis spokesman Jeremy Redfern.
Christie slammed DeSantis’ choice and likewise accused the governor of “hypocrisy” for requesting federal support from the Biden administration.
In an interview with CNN, Christie noticed that DeSantis, as a member of Congress, voted in opposition to an support package deal for New Jersey after Hurricane Sandy blasted the East Coast.
“He voted in opposition to Sandy support in 2012 as a member of the Home, and now he desires support,” Christie stated. “You realize, that is the hypocrisy that everyone sees in politics and why they’re searching for somebody who will simply inform them the reality.”
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Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, left, criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for not assembly President Biden throughout his go to to Florida to see the Hurricane Idalia aftermath. (Win McNamee/Getty Photographs, Brandon Bell/Getty Photographs)
In one other interview with CNBC on Tuesday, Christie switched up his assaults and criticized DeSantis for interfering with companies and authorities spending in Florida.
“I’m not a giant authorities Republican, like Governor DeSantis is, who thinks that each time you disagree with a place {that a} company takes, it’s best to take punitive motion in opposition to them,” Christie stated on “Final Name.”
The jab was a reference to how DeSantis has fought with Disney over Florida’s Parental Rights in Training regulation — derided because the “Do not Say Homosexual” invoice by critics — which banned sexual orientation and gender identification content material in Okay-3 lecture rooms. Disney publicly opposed the regulation, which prompted DeSantis and the Florida legislature to revoke the corporate’s particular self-governing rights, changing the Reedy Creek Enchancment District with the brand new Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. The spat led to an ongoing lawsuit filed by Disney accusing DeSantis of violating the corporate’s free speech rights.
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Christie additionally attacked DeSantis over Florida’s spending, arguing his report in New Jersey, a blue state, was superior.
“Our spending in New Jersey went up a median of two% a 12 months, for all eight years that I used to be there,” Christie stated. “Just a bit over 16% in eight years. You evaluate that to Florida, for example, within the final 5 years spending has gone up 30%.”
The assaults come as Christie is registering within the single digits in GOP main polls, whereas DeSantis persistently holds a double-digit second place far behind former President Trump, who’s the overwhelming front-runner.
Get the newest updates from the 2024 marketing campaign path, unique interviews and extra at our Fox Information Digital election hub.
Fox Information’ Madeline Coggins and Timothy H.J. Nerozzi contributed to this report.
