Frank Bruni, a contributing Opinion writer, talked by Zoom on Wednesday afternoon with Chris Christie, who was the Republican governor of New Jersey when Hurricane Sandy hit that state in 2012winph, about the differences between the political climate then and the one surrounding the devastation of Hurricanes Helene and Milton. Their conversation has been condensed and edited.

Frank Bruni: I’m here in North Carolina, but far from the devastation. You’ve been on my mind because I keep thinking back to Hurricane Sandy and to the teamwork and mutual respect that you and President Barack Obama demonstrated at the time. Helene, now Milton — this has been politicized in a way that I don’t recall from Sandy. And a lot of misinformation has been pushed by Donald Trump. What do you make of that and also — because you know this from experience — how much does that actually hurt the relief and rescue efforts?

Former Gov. Chris Christie: Well, unfortunately, I think it’s a natural extension of the reaction politically that I got within my own party from working with President Obama. I will tell you, Frank, that not only when I ran in 2016, but when I ran in 2024, I could not get by a week without hearing about, “Oh, you hugged Obama.” And now it’s 12 years later.

So there’s no question that inside my party in particular, there is no longer the water’s edge. Everything is politicized. And when you add to it not only Trump’s willingness but seeming inability to avoid lying about everything — the combination of the two are toxic to the political environment generally, but they are really toxic to the human environment in a disaster. Because people are so disoriented by what’s happened to them. They’ve lost their home. Some of them have lost loved ones. They’ve lost their business. They have no place to stay. They’re living in, sometimes, shelters, temporary housing. And all you want to try to find out during that time is the truth about: When am I going to be able to get back to a normal life?

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Bruni: Given all our history with Trump, this is going to seem like a naïve and ridiculous question, but how can that not make an impression on him? How can that not factor into his thinking and give him pause when we’re talking, as you just said, about people’s lives and most desperate needs?

Christie: Because no one’s life is more important to him than his. It’s really that simple. I mean, it’s not that he doesn’t get it. He does get it, but he makes a value judgment that in the grand context of things, his life and his circumstance are the most important thing in the world.

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