New Jersey State Senator Stephen Sweeney knew he’d misspoken as soon as he suggested Gov. Chris Christie had “prayed” for Hurricane Sandy, but it was too late to stuff the genie back into the lamp, and now Christie’s hammering away at him for it. “We gave the governor a jobs package. We gave him one. He vetoed it,” Sweeney, a Democrat* said during a press conference Monday. “And his job package is a hurricane. I guess he prayed a lot and got lucky a storm came. I shouldn’t say that… I apologize for saying it.” Christie immediately jumped on the gaffe: “This is politics at its worst and Senator Sweeney’s next press release should be to all residents of New Jersey saying he is ashamed of what he said today,” his spokesman said. But that’s not what Sweeney did. Instead he doubled down, releasing a statement attacking Christie anew: “It’s unfortunate that the governor has found time to exploit my misstatement, which I apologized for immediately. The truth of the matter is the chief politicizer of Sandy has been none other than Chris Christie.” So much for bipartisanship in the wake of disaster.
*This post has been updated to include Sweeney’s party affiliation.
