Chris Christie addresses a gathering Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012, in North Wildwood, N.J., as he lays out preparation plans for Hurricane Sandy. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)
The morning after Sandy struck the East Coast, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was not about to get involved in any politically charged games.
While providing FOX and Friends with an update on Hurricane Sandy, Christie, one of many Romney/Ryan surrogates, was asked about the possibility of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney coming to tour the affected area with the governor. Christie was pretty blunt in his answer, when he said:
“I have no idea, nor am I the least bit concerned or interested. I have a job to do here in New Jersey that is much bigger than presidential politics. And I could care less about any of that stuff. I have a job to do. I’ve got 2.4 million people out of power. I’ve got devastation on the shore. I’ve got floods in the Northern parts of my state. If you think right now I give a damn about presidential politics, then you don’t know me.”
Later on in the segment, Christie was also asked about the assistance he has been receiving from President Barack Obama. Christie did not hesitate before launching into his answer, praising President Obama:
“I spoke to the president three time yesterday. He called me for the last time at midnight last night, asking what he could do. I said if he could expedite designating New Jersey as a major disaster area that that would help us get federal money and resources in here as quickly as possible to clean up the damage here. President was great last night. He said he would get it done. At 2 a.m., I got a call from FEMA to answer a couple final questions and then he signed the declaration this morning. So I have to give president great credit. He has been on the phone with three times in the last 24 hours. He has been attentive and anything I have asked for, he has gotten to me. So I thank the president publicly for that, he has done, as far as I am concerned, a great job for Jersey.”
Christie also shared his views with his Twitter followers when around 12 p.m. ET, he tweeted: “I don’t give a damn about Election Day after what has happened here. I am worried about the people of New Jersey. #Sandy.” About an hour later, in another tweet, he once again mentioned working with president on cleanup efforts in New Jersey: “On conf call with POTUS discussing post-Sandy cleanup efforts in partnership with the feds. He is instructing Gov’t to lean forward to help.”