WASHINGTON (CBSDC) — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie believes his Republican presidential rival Sen. Rand Paul should be blamed if there’s another terror attack on the United States.
Christie railed against Paul for his opposition to the Patriot Act during an appearance Monday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“In town hall meetings people are really worried about ISIS, they’re really worried about the threat of terrorism, and that’s why what Rand Paul has done to make this country weaker and more vulnerable is a terrible thing,” the New Jersey governor said. “And for him to raise money off of it is disgraceful.”
Christie stated that the Republican Kentucky senator should be the one in hearings if there’s another terror attack on U.S. soil.
“We’re going to look back on this, and he should be in front of hearings, in front of Congress if there’s another attack,” Christie told “Morning Joe.” “Not the director of the FBI, or the director of the CIA.”
Paul took to the Senate floor in May for 11 hours to protest against the NSA’s surveillance programs on Americans. Some provisions of the Patriot Act expired on May 31 after the Senate was unable to reach an agreement to extend them, but those provisions were restored in June in the USA Freedom Act.
One major provision was stripped, though, as the NSA was not allowed to continue its mass phone data collection of Americans.
Christie also appeared on “CBS This Morning” saying that President Obama should walk away from a nuclear deal with Iran.
“The largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world is moving toward a nuclear weapon with the permission of the United States. It’s outrageous,” he said. “You wouldn’t buy a car this way, let alone have nuclear talks this way. You can’t look like you want the car that much, and the president cares much more about his legacy now and having … his signature on some kind of agreement with Iran than whether it’s a good agreement for the country and for the world.
“This is a bad thing for the president and I think he should just get smart about this, walk away from the table,” Christie said.
A recent New Hampshire Republican presidential primary poll finds that only 5 percent of voters would make Christie their first choice.
