By Meg Kinnard | Related Press
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Republican presidential hopeful Chris Christie says Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had put “politics forward of his job” by declining to satisfy with President Joe Biden in the course of the Democrat’s weekend go to to survey Hurricane Idalia’s harm in DeSantis’ state.
“Your job as governor is to be the tour information for the president, is to verify the president sees your individuals, sees the harm, sees the struggling, what’s occurring and what must be achieved to rebuild it,” Christie mentioned about his rival for the 2024 nomination in an interview Tuesday on Fox Information Radio’s “The Brian Kilmeade Present.”
“You’re doing all of your job. And sadly, he put politics forward of his job,” Christie mentioned. “That was his alternative.”
Nobody is aware of higher than Christie how such a sticky political scenario can create an everlasting picture. Images of then New Jersey Gov. Christie giving a heat greeting to Democratic President Barack Obama throughout a go to after Superstorm Sandy in 2012 earned Christie scorn amongst nationwide Republicans.
Obama positioned his hand on Christie’s shoulder. Some Republicans labeled it a “hug” and advised it contributed to GOP nominee Mitt Romney’s loss to Obama in that 12 months’s normal election. Christie mentioned he was merely doing his job by assembly with the president.
Idalia made landfall final week alongside Florida’s Large Bend area as a Class 3 storm, inflicting widespread flooding and harm earlier than transferring north to drench Georgia and the Carolinas. Biden, who toured the state on Saturday, had initially mentioned that he would meet with DeSantis throughout his journey, however the governor’s workplace mentioned DeSantis had “no plans” to see Biden, suggesting that doing so may hinder catastrophe response associated to Idalia.
Biden and DeSantis have met different occasions when the president toured Florida after Hurricane Ian hit the state final 12 months, and after the Surfside rental collapse in Miami Seaside in the summertime of 2021. However DeSantis is now working for president and hoping to tackle Biden within the 2024 normal election.
DeSantis’ marketing campaign didn’t remark about Christie’s critique.
Christie has defended his personal response to the presidential go to throughout Sandy, saying that though he and Obama had essentially completely different views on governing, the 2 males did what wanted to be achieved for a devastated area.
The “hug” second, nevertheless, has trailed Christie ever since. It emerged final month throughout Republicans’ first 2024 debate, when Vivek Ramaswamy responded to a barb from Christie — who mentioned the biotech entrepreneur’s opening line about being a thin child with a hard-to-pronounce identify reminded him of Obama — by asking if the previous governor wished a “hug,” a reference to Obama’s post-Sandy go to.
