Former Gov. George Pataki (R-N.Y.) is hitting fellow GOP presidential contender Carly Fiorina for saying parents should have the right to decide whether to vaccinate their children.

“Pandering for voters isn’t going to win us back the presidency,” Pataki tweeted at Fiorina on Friday. “Optional vaccinations are bad for public health & bad politics.

“Not sure how you run a major tech company @HP & reject accepted science that has eradicated diseases like small pox & polio,” Pataki added of Fiorina, a former Hewlett-Packard CEO.

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Fiorina revealed on Thursday that she supports letting parents decide whether to inoculate their children against communicable diseases.

“It’s always the parent’s choice,” she said while campaigning in Iowa, responding to a question from a woman who avoids vaccinating her five children because of concerns vaccines are created using cells from aborted fetuses.

Fiorina added that families face a “trade-off” when weighing their children’s health with public schooling.

“I think a school district is well within their rights to say, ‘I’m sorry, your child cannot then attend public school,’ ” she later clarified on Thursday.

Fiorina also said that schools must show a real threat from communicable diseases.

“A school district shouldn’t be able to say, ‘sorry, your kid can’t come to school’ for a disease that’s not communicable, that’s not contagious and where there isn’t any proof that they’re necessary at this point,” she added.

Fiorina’s remarks leave room for those who oppose vaccinations on personal or religious grounds.

The anti-vaccination movement is facing scrutiny following a severe outbreak of measles in California, Fiorina’s home state, earlier this year.

Critics argue that not vaccinating increases the risk of epidemics causing major health crises.

Sen. Rand Paul Randal (Rand) Howard PaulSecond GOP senator to quarantine after exposure to coronavirus GOP senator to quarantine after coronavirus exposure The Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by National Industries for the Blind - Trump seeks to flip 'Rage' narrative; Dems block COVID-19 bill MORE (R-Ky.), another White House hopeful, also believes that vaccines should be optional.

Paul, who has a medical degree, has also suggested a link between vaccines and mental disorders in children.

Pataki is near the bottom of the GOP field in recent national polls. Both Pataki and Fiorina participated in last week's side debate for lower-ranked Republican contenders.

Fiorina was widely seen as the winner of that debate and has seen her polling numbers since rise.