CNN and MSNBC anchors on Monday dredged up Sen. Ted Cruz's (R., Texas) vote in 2013 against a disaster relief package after Hurricane Sandy hit the U.S. east coast, asking him about it during interviews as he was in Houston, where residents are dealing with the devastation of Hurricane Harvey.
Cruz was in Houston helping with disaster relief in the wake of Harvey, which has been sweeping up the Gulf Coast for several days. On Friday, Cruz and fellow Texas Sen. John Cornyn (R.) joined Gov. Greg Abbott's (R.) call for federal aid for the state.
On Saturday, both Cornyn and Cruz came under fire from Rep. Peter King (R., N.Y.), who attacked the two for refusing to vote in support of federal relief aid for Hurricane Sandy, which hit in 2012. Cornyn and Cruz were among 36 senators who voted against the final bill in early 2013.
"Ted Cruz & Texas cohorts voted vs NY/NJ aid after Sandy but I'll vote 4 Harvey aid. NY wont abandon Texas. 1 bad turn doesnt [sic] deserve another," King tweeted.
Ted Cruz & Texas cohorts voted vs NY/NJ aid after Sandy but I'll vote 4 Harvey aid. NY wont abandon Texas. 1 bad turn doesnt deserve another
— Pete King (@RepPeteKing) August 27, 2017
CNN reporter Jim Acosta asked Cruz if his "perspective has changed at all when it comes to that need for quick disaster relief for a hard-hit area."
"I know during Superstorm Sandy, this became an issue where there were some Republicans in Texas who were opposed to that funding, and now many of those members of Congress would like to see help come in as quickly as possible," Acosta said.
Cruz rejected the narrative that Acosta put forward, arguing that the issue was not with the idea of hurricane funding, but with the bill itself.
"It's not accurate that there were Republicans opposed to hurricane funding," he said. "Every Republican, including Texas Republicans, agreed that hurricane funding is an important and critical role for the federal government, and that Hurricane Sandy, there were a great many people that were hurting from it."
"Now, there were a number of us that were concerned that that particular bill became a $50 billion bill that was filled with pork and unrelated spending that wasn't hurricane relief, that was simply local members of Congress spending on their pet project, and two-thirds of what was spent in that bill had little or nothing to do with Hurricane Sandy," Cruz said.
"You should not have members of Congress that are exploiting disasters to fund their pet projects," Cruz added.
The issue came up again when Cruz appeared on MSNBC, where host Katy Tur addressed the issue more forcefully than Acosta had.
"A lot of people are pointing out that you voted against aid for Sandy after that catastrophic storm up in the northeast, that package back in 2012," Tur said. "They're pointing at you and saying that you're asking for money now when you weren't willing to help the people in the northeast. What do you have to say to them?"
"There's time for political sniping later—" Cruz began, before Tur cut him off.
"It's not really political sniping, senator. These are people who needed money and who needed funding right after that storm," she said.
"Katy, of course that's right," Cruz said. "And the accurate thing to say is that I and a number of others enthusiastically and emphatically supported hurricane relief. Hurricane relief and disaster relief has been a vital federal role for a long, long time, and it should continue."
"The problem with that particular bill is that it became a $50 billion bill filled with unrelated pork," he said. "Two-thirds had nothing to do with Sandy, and what I said then, and still believe now, is that it's not right for politicians to exploit a disaster and people are hurting to pay for their own political wishlist."