MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough offered a rare and scathing criticism of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) on Tuesday for refusing to meet with the families of Sandy Hook victims, calling the governor’s reasoning one of the “stupidest arguments” he had ever heard.

The MSNBC host has mostly defended Christie in the past, even during parts of the BirdgeGate scandal, which has been dogging the governor for months. But Christie’s decision to dodge the families of gun violence victims after vetoing a gun control bill was too much for namesake of “Morning Joe.”

“I think it’s kind of chicken something, which I won’t say on the air. It’s chicken, we’ll say salad, for Chris Christie to not meet with these families for at least five to 10 minutes,” Scarborough said during his show. “This proves Chris Christie still thinks he can win the Republican nomination for President of the United States, does it not?”

Christie had declined to meet with parents whose children were killed in the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. The governor said during a public event in Newark on Monday that it would be “hypocritical” for him to meet with those families because he already vetoed the bill last week that would have banned firearm magazines that held more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

“So we are saying the 10 children on the clip that they advocate for, that their lives are less valuable?” Christie said. “So why 10? Why not six? Why not two? Why not one? Why not zero? Why not just ban guns completely? So the logical conclusion of their argument is that you get to zero eventually.”

While trying to avoid the debate of gun control legislation on the show, Scarborough called Christie’s argument “convoluted” and said it was “painful watching him contort like that.”

Fellow co-host Mika Brzezinski said she was disappointed in Christie’s decision because the governor is normally all about “getting face-to-face with people and even having the tough talks,” she said.

Scarborough agreed.

“And to somehow say you’re showing care for more children if you’re able to carry around 300 bullets in a magazine instead of ten bullets in a magazine … that’s just absolutely ridiculous,” Scarborough said. “Chris Christie could have taken a chance and spoken his mind and trusted the voters of the Republican party and I don’t think he would have been disappointed.

“He’s running scared that’s what it is … and it’s a sad sight to see.”

Watch:

Embed code: