Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, responded Monday to a dishonest attack from Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., over Cruz’s previous vote regarding Hurricane Sandy – a relief package Cruz says was full of unrelated pork spending.

On Saturday, Rep. King took shots at Cruz, lording the fact he would vote for emergency funds for victims of Hurricane Harvey in Texas.

Ted Cruz & Texas cohorts voted vs NY/NJ aid after Sandy but I'll vote 4 Harvey aid. NY wont abandon Texas. 1 bad turn doesnt deserve another

— Rep. Pete King (@RepPeteKing) August 27, 2017

As lifelong NYer w/ NY values I will vote for emergency Harvey $ for Ted Cruz's constituents. Above all, true Americans must stand together.

— Rep. Pete King (@RepPeteKing) August 27, 2017

Cruz initially dismissed King’s sneering tweets.

“They’ll be plenty of time for politics and I’m not going to worry about political sniping,” Cruz said. “My focus here is on the tragedy that is unfolding, on the people whose lives are in jeopardy, and the people who need help.”

“The silliness of Washington can wait for another time,” he added.

.@TedCruz responds to @RepPeteKing and others bringing up his vote against Sandy aid amid #Harvey (2:03): https://t.co/c2vKkgE8IH

— Patrick Svitek (@PatrickSvitek) August 28, 2017

But the CNBC reporter pushed Cruz on whether he regretted his vote, asking if he had gained a “new perspective.”

“No, of course not,” Cruz replied. “As I said at the time, hurricane funding is a very important federal responsibility and I would have eagerly supported funding for that. But I didn’t think it was appropriate to engage in pork-barrel spending where two-thirds of that bill was unrelated spending that had nothing to do with Sandy and was simply politicians wasting money.”

“That shouldn’t happen,” Cruz said. “The focus of emergency relief shouldn’t be cynical politicians trying to fund their pet projects. It should be providing relief to people in crisis.”