Christie destroys 'hypocrite' Texas senators, then says not to politicize Harvey

One day after politicizing a disaster, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is urging everyone not to politicize disasters so that Texas can get the federal aid it needs quickly.

Christie fired shots at Texas lawmakers Monday after they requested federal aid to help with Hurricane Harvey recovery efforts, calling them hypocrites because they voted against federal aid to New Jersey after Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

"The congressional members in Texas are hypocrites and I said back in 2012 that they'd be proven to be hypocrites," Christie said Monday. "It was just a matter of time."

Tuesday, Christie turned his focus toward aid for Texas, reluctant to dwell on his earlier comments and rehash a five-year-old debate.

"Disasters should not be politicized,” Christie told Fox News’ "Your World with Neil Cavuto." "It’s about people’s lives and getting their lives rebuilt … [People] want to hear that their government’s going to come in and partner with the state to get their homes and their businesses rebuilt and get their lives back together."

Christie is still holding a grudge from 2012 when 24 Republican House members joined Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn to vote against a $51 billion aid package after Sandy ravaged the east coast.

It's not fully clear whether Christie is more interested in settling an old score or getting Texans aid, given how pointed his attacks against Texas lawmakers have been. But, he claims to be interested in moving forward.

"What matters is not rehashing that argument, Christie said. "What matters is ... people waited over 65 days for federal relief aid ... during Sandy. That was six times the amount of time they waited after Hurricane Andrew and ten times more than they waited [after] Hurricane Katrina."

President Donald Trump was in Texas on Tuesday to survey the damage and provide his support to recovery efforts, a move which some have criticized as taking place too soon. Christie disagreed.

"President Trump has put together a great team of folks to go with him to Texas. This is not some type of photo op," Christie said. "This a working time where he sits with [Texas] Governor [Greg] Abbott and they figure out what’s really needed … and it will form the basis of a relationship that’s going to continue for months going forward to make sure that challenges are met. So I think that President Trump has done an extraordinary job so far. He and the first lady are right to be down there."