Governor Christie called four congressmen from Colorado “hypocrites” tonight for voting against the superstorm Sandy relief bill in January but fighting for disaster aid for their state this week.
In a town hall-style conference call with thousands of Hudson County residents, Christie said that victims of Colorado’s recent floods deserve help from the federal government. But, in response to a question from a participant, he emphasized that the four members of Congress should be taken to task.
“They’re hypocrites. That’s what they are, and there’s no other way to put it,” Christie said.
The congressmen — Reps. Mike Coffman, Cory Gardner, Doug Lamborn and Scott Tipton — are all Republicans. They voted against the $60 billion Sandy relief bill in January, but this week they championed legislation paying for disaster relief in their state.
Several of the congressmen defended their votes to The Denver Post today. They said they have supported disaster aid all along, but the Sandy relief bill was, according to Lamborn, “overly generous.”
Tonight, Christie — a Republican who famously blasted his own party for failing to quickly bring the Sandy bill to a vote — cautioned against being “vindictive.”
“Because what we’ve got to be concerned about are the actual people who are being hurt,” he said. “And so we need to call out the congressmen for their hypocrisy, but we can’t then deny those folks aid.”
Several members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation have already accused the Colorado representatives of hypocrisy.
“Some of these very congressmen are shamelessly proving just how hypocritical they are,” Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-Paterson, said in a statement.