Chris Christie calls Ted Cruz 'disgusting' for using 'reprehensible lies' to defend his vote on Hurricane Sandy relief

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie did not mince words Wednesday for Sen. Ted Cruz, launching into harsh criticism of the Texas senator's seemingly different approach to Hurricane Harvey after voting against a relief package for Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

During an appearance on CNN's "New Day," Christie attacked Cruz for defending his vote against a $50 billion Hurricane Sandy relief package.

"I see Sen. Cruz, and it's disgusting to me that he stands in a recovery center with victims standing behind him as a backdrop and he's still repeating the same reprehensible lies about what happened with Sandy," Christie said.

The attack was part of a string of appearances in which Christie pushed back against Cruz's claim during an interview Monday on MSNBC, in which Cruz claimed that "two-thirds of the bill had nothing to do with Sandy" and that it was full of "pork."

While some funds were allocated to long-term restructuring projects and projects addressing relating to other disasters, Christie and others have argued that almost all of the money was used to rebuild and repair areas affected by the storm in 2012.

During an appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Christie said that Cruz "made it up" when he said two-thirds of the Sandy relief bill was "unrelated pork."

"What was wrong was for Ted Cruz to exploit the disaster for political gain - that's what he was doing," Christie said.

Christie, when asked for a one word to describe Cruz, simply said: "Crap."

Several other New Jersey and New York politicians have slammed Cruz and fellow Texas Sen. John Cornyn for voting against the Sandy relief bill, but have pledged to vote for any package to help alleviate the damage from Hurricane Harvey.

"He should just stand up now and say, 'You know, what I did was wrong,'" Christie said on MSNBC. 

Here's Christie's exchange with Cuomo: