Gov. Chris Christie accused Sen. Marco Rubio Friday morning of lying to cover up his record of supporting amnesty for undocumented immigrants when he was pressed at the GOP debate in Iowa Thursday evening.
“Here’s what voters are fine with: They’re fine if you’re honest, they’re not fine if you lie,” Christie said Friday during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “Sen. Rubio did not tell the truth last night on that stage. It’s that simple.”
The New Jersey governor said Rubio tried to dodge a tough question posed by Megyn Kelly, one of the Fox News debate moderators, about his immigration record that included video clips of his past statements about a path to citizenship.
“He thinks he’s so smooth about it and that people won’t notice because he just doesn’t answer the question,” Christie said. “But people understand that and they get it. Over the course of time, we’ll make sure they get it about Sen. Rubio.”
Christie also slammed Sen. Ted Cruz, who leads both Rubio and Christie in Iowa polls, for evading pointed questions about where he has stood on immigration in Congress.
But the governor saved his harshest criticism for Rubio.
“Sen. Rubio seems to just not want to answer,” Christie said. “He acts as if he’s deaf, like they say all this stuff to him and then he just gives the prepared answer that his staff gave him before he got there.”
