Campaign

Christie: Cruz has ‘made the country weaker’

by Bradford Richardson - 12/12/15 10:56 AM ET

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) says he is the GOP presidential candidate best equipped to lead America into the impending war against radical Islam, dismissing Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) for his efforts to curb U.S. intelligence-gathering capabilities.

“You can’t, in these dangerous times, take tools away from the government, and he’s made the country weaker,” Christie said in an interview with the Associated Press on Friday.

{mosads}Cruz was instrumental in the passage of the USA Freedom Act, which banned bulk metadata collection by the National Security Agency.

Christie also said Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), another GOP presidential contender, is too inexperienced for the job.

“He’s not ready to be president, he’s a first-term senator, we just went through that,” Christie said, making reference to President Obama’s inexperience when he was elected in 2008. “You can’t do on-the-job training with the presidency.”

Christie’s rhetorical shift toward national security comes after the deadly shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., and an escalation in the effort against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

“We know that we’re in the midst of the next world war,” Christie told a crowd in New Hampshire on Friday. “It’s a world war that’s not going to look like the first two we engaged in.

“As our country confronts that issue, all those other issues seem real small now,” he added.

The governor recounted his horror at the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, noting that his wife, Mary Pat, worked near the World Trade Center.

Although he did not name Republican front-runner Donald Trump specifically in his criticism, Christie said broadly condemning Muslims not the best way to ease America’s fears about terrorism.

“Most people understand you can’t lump everybody into the same basket,” Christie told the AP.

Tags Chris Christie Ted Cruz