Christie: Obama kept promises on disaster aid

Associated Press

HIGHLANDS, N.J.

Gov. Chris Christie said Monday that President Barack Obama “has kept every promise he’s made” about helping the state recover from superstorm Sandy.

Hours later, Obama’s housing secretary approved New Jersey’s plans to spend $1.83 billion in federal money to help the state rebuild and recover from the storm.

Speaking on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” program six months after the deadly storm, the Republican governor said presidential politics were the last thing on his mind as he toured storm-devastated areas with Obama last fall.

When it comes to helping New Jersey rebuild from the storm, “the president has kept every promise he’s made,” said Christie, widely considered a potential candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. “I think he’s done a good job. He kept his word.”

His comments came in response to a question about whether he had any regrets about his warm embrace of Obama after the storm, which angered some Republicans, who said it helped tip a close presidential election. Christie had endorsed and campaigned for Republican Mitt Romney.

The governor said he and Obama have fundamentally different views on governing. But he said the two men did what needed to be done for a devastated region.

“I’ve got a job to do,” he said. “You wake up and 7 million of your 8.8 million citizens are out of power, you’re not thinking about presidential politics.”

Christie challenged his critics to put themselves in his shoes while dealing with the massive storm, predicting none of them would have done anything differently.

“I have a 95 percent level of disagreement with Barack Obama,” Christie said. But that did not come into play while dealing with the storm.

“We saw suffering together,” Christie said. “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.”

Sandy destroyed about 360,000 homes or apartment units in New Jersey, and some areas along the shore still are devastated.

Later Monday, U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan appeared with Christie at a press conference and announced federal approval of New Jersey’s plans to spend more than $1.8 billion in federal grants on storm rebuilding and recovery.

“Today is the beginning of us getting to phase two of return to normalcy,” Christie said. “For the overwhelming majority of New Jerseyans, their life is back to normal. For those who have not been able to leave it behind, I can still see the emotion on their faces, the sense of loss they still carry close to the surface. We are not here today to take a victory lap.”