Sen. Ted Cruz Rafael (Ted) Edward CruzVideo of Lindsey Graham arguing against nominating a Supreme Court justice in an election year goes viral Sunday shows preview: Justice Ginsburg dies, sparking partisan battle over vacancy before election Democrat on Graham video urging people to 'use my words against me': 'Done' MORE (R-Texas) savaged New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie this week after he criticized Cruz's request for federal aid in response to Hurricane Harvey, telling the Republican governor to "go back to the beach."

In an interview with The New York Times published Friday, Cruz said he is "quite confident that nobody in Texas gives a flip what Chris Christie has to say.”

"And it seems not many people in New Jersey do either," he said, an apparent reference to Christie's languishing approval ratings. "Chris should go back to the beach."

ADVERTISEMENT

Last week, Christie took aim at Cruz in an interview with CNN, calling him a hypocrite and accusing him of "playing politics" in 2012 when he opposed a more than $50 billion relief package for those affected by Hurricane Sandy, which struck New York and New Jersey that year.

At the time, Cruz argued that the aid package contained funding for projects unrelated to hurricane relief.

But Cruz has ardently pushed for a federal hurricane and disaster relief package since Hurricane Harvey struck southeast Texas late last month, unleashing historic rains and leaving behind it a multibillion-dollar trail of destruction.

The Senate passed a stopgap spending measure on Thursday that included more than $15 billion for hurricane and disaster relief. The House followed suit, passing the measure on Friday.