West Wildwood, N.J. Mayor Rips Christie over Mop Comment: ‘It’s Not Funny to Us’

RUSH TRANSCRIPT:

RASCON: “Yeah, so this has been simmering for a little bit, Jose. That comment about the mop is one of many that the governor has made and that the people here have taken exception to. Really over the last couple days, they have been focused on getting the debris, the mud, the boats, the docks out of their front yards. The water out of their homes. But today as the water is now gone, some of the residents, the mayor and others, are reacting to what the governor said. Take a listen.”
[clip starts]
UNKNOWN MALE: “He should get down here and just take a look. So then he’ll know what he’s talking about.”
UNKNOWN FEMALE: “I think it takes a little more than a mop for this. The home’s not livable anymore. The bulkhead is gone. He — whether he sees it on camera or himself in person, the devastation is what it is. That’s not going to change. It’s going to take more than a mop.”
[clip ends]
RASCONT: “The two people you heard from there, they got water in their homes and they don’t know if their homes are livable anymore. So saying that you need much more than a mop, of course, obvious to them. But as you can tell, very emotional. With me as well, I have the mayor here. Mayor fox, jose. Mayor, we have talked a lot about the damage here, how it’s been a little worse than when sandy hit. Now that the water is gone and the governor has made the comment about the mohat do you think as mayor of this town, what’s your reaction?”
FOX: “Well, we have heard the governor make these remarks in the past, and quite frankly, some of them are funny. Not today. This is very serious to us. This is a storm that had a magnitude that affected our town very huge. We had a blown out bulkhead that flooded homes out and maybe they’re not rebuildable. So this comment was very — it was a serious comment he makes, and maybe he thinks it’s funny. Well certainly not funny to us.”
RASCONT: “What’s the disconnect, I wonder, that he is talking ability about only minor or residual flooding or a little damage. What’s the disconnect?”
FOX: “Because he’s not here. If he sees the damage that you see today, and I’m going to use Katrina as an example, if the levee doesn’t break in Louisiana, they don’t have the flood they have. They could probably control it. Same thing here. Levee breaks, you get more water than expected. This is what causes it. If he sees this, he doesn’t make a comment like that.”
RASCONT: “Lastly, thank you, mayor. We have somebody coming out today. In fact, a couple of congressmen or who is coming there?”
FOX: “Oh, thank God. I’ve got Congressmen LoBiondo and Senator Cory Booker coming as well. they’re going to be huge. I’m hoping they can promise me some funding, aid to fix the bulkhead and help the folks out who lost property.”
RASCONT: “Thank you so much, mayor.”