Christie: Hillary ‘ridiculous’ on voting rights

Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) said on Sunday that Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton did not understand state voting rights.

“She doesn’t know what she’s talking about,” Christie told host John Dickerson on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”

{mosads}“I don’t want to expand it and increase the opportunities for fraud,” he said, citing Clinton’s claims on Thursday that he should open New Jersey voting earlier.

“But the fact is that the folks in New Jersey have plenty of opportunities to vote,” he added.

“And maybe, you know, if she took some questions some places and learned some things, maybe she wouldn’t make such ridiculous statements.”

Christie, a possible 2016 presidential candidate, added that he doubted Clinton had ever seen an election in his state.

“Yeah, well, she’s never been to New Jersey, I guess,” he said.

Christie also took aim at critics who believe he would sacrifice civil liberties in an attempt to counter terrorism.

“If Congress is really worried about this, John, why don’t they utilize their vigorous oversight capability to make sure that, if someone in the intelligence community is overstepping the line, that they bring them back in?” he asked.

Christie criticized Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) for arguing earlier this month he was unfairly stoking American fears over national security.

“I’m trying to tell them the truth,” Christie said. “As opposed to what Sen. Lee is doing and Sen. Paul, which is, they’re grandstanding for political purposes.”

Christie disagrees with Lee and Paul over the National Security Agency and its bulk, warrantless collection of individual phone record metadata.

The Senate voted on Tuesday to authorize the USA Freedom Act and end the NSA’s controversial program over concerns it violates privacy rights.

“I’m the guy who understands this stuff and has done it,” Christie said, citing his experience as U.S. attorney for New Jersey.

“And he’s the guy who sits up on Capitol Hill in subcommittee meetings and theorizes about it,” Christie said of Paul, a 2016 GOP presidential candidate.