Gov. Chris Christie Praises Obama’s Storm Response

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie praised President Obama’s storm response on Tuesday, the highest praise the president has received from a governor of a state affected by super storm Sandy.

Both Obama and challenger Mitt Romney are navigating the politics that comes with a late-stage presidential campaign along with a massive natural disaster, reports The Washington Post.

Because of this, they are trying to focus more on the wreckage of Sandy than the campaign. While Romney turned a Tuesday campaign rally in to a “storm relief event,” the president has cancelled appearances on Tuesday and Wednesday to focus on his storm relief response.

But no photo of either candidate can show the proof of a job well done like a comment from Christie, an affected, outspoken governor from the other party.

Christie heavily praised Obama’s Sandy response, saying it has been “outstanding,” and that coordinating with the Obama administration had been “wonderful.” The Republican New Jersey governor added:

“The president has been all over this and he deserves great credit… I’ve got a job to do here in New Jersey that’s much bigger than presidential politics, and I could care less about any of that stuff. I have a job to do. I’ve got 2.4 million people out of power. I’ve got devastation on the Shore. I’ve got floods in the northern part of my state. If you think right now I give a damn about presidential politics, then you don’t know me.”

CBS News notes that Chris Christie, in praising President Obama’s response, added that the cooperation between local, state, and federal governments has been “excellent.” Christie added that Obama accelerated the designation of Jew Jersey as a major disaster area, going around “the usual red tape.” He recalled:

“I was on the phone for the third time yesterday, last night, with the president of the United States. He called me at midnight last night as he was seeing reports. The cooperation has been great with FEMA here on the ground and the cooperation from the president of the United States has been outstanding. He deserves great credit.”

Flooding in southern New Jersey has trapped residents and damaged homes and businesses in the area. Power loss has impacted the entire state. Newark is completely without power, Christie explained, calling super storm Sandy much worse than last year’s Hurricane Irene.

Do you think that Chris Christie is right to praise President Obama for his storm response?