Gov. Chris Christie Praises Obama's Sandy Response Despite Political Differences
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie once again praised President Barack Obama's response to Superstorm Sandy on the six-month anniversary of the devastating storm, despite what he says are great political differences between the two.
"The president has kept every promise he's made," Gov. Christine insisted in an interview with MSNBC. "I think he's done a good job. He kept his word."
Sandy devastated the tri-state region in late October, causing dozens of deaths, destroying thousands of homes, leaving millions without power for weeks and costing an estimated $29.4 billion in damages. The storm hit just a week before the General Election on Nov. 7 when Obama squared off against GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, with many praising the president's swift response to the natural disaster.
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Gov. Christie, a Republican who is seen as a possible presidential contender in 2016, worked closely with Obama following the storm, and publicly praised the president for offering all the federal help he can give to the tri-state region.
The N.J. governor was criticized by some for commending Obama just days before the election and helping him gain favor, but Christie insisted that at times of tragedy the most important thing is not politics but people working together to help those in need.
"I've got a job to do," Christie said. "You wake up and 7 million of your 8.8 million citizens are out of power, you're not thinking about presidential politics."
"We saw suffering together," he added. "Everything the president promised me they'd do, they've done. I don't have any complaint this morning on the issue of disaster relief."
The Republican clarified, however, that he has very different views about running the country, and said that he has a "95 percent level of disagreement" with Obama.
That disagreement did not hinder efforts of cooperation, however, and Christie noted that the federal help his state received and continues to receive following the storm is much needed. He pointed out that the recovery process continues six months after the disaster, as thousands of people are still not back in their homes.
"We'll start to see that aid start flowing this week," Christie said. "We still have tens of thousands of families who aren't back in their homes. Job One is to get the grant program going."
Congress has approved more than $60 billion in funds for Sandy recovery efforts, which will be shared among the affected states.
