Christie: “Want me to go down there with a mop?””

“Well, because it’s already done”, Christie shot back. “The reason for my apology was because I really felt badly about it. When I had a night to sleep on it and woke up this morning, I didn’t feel good about what I said about him”.

When Christie returned to his state ahead of the weekends winter storm Jonas, it was with a sort of reluctance that makes one question where Christie would be if times got tough as Commander in Chief. “That was Cape May County”, he said.

“He’s still tweeting”, says Christie, who has text message alerts set up to be notified every time his son tweets.

Mayor Patrick Rosenello, of North Wildwood, N.J., blasted the governor, who apparently hinted that he had overreacted.

“Keep this in perspective”, Christie told CNN during a one-day return to the state from the campaign trail in New Hampshire.

“That shows a real immaturity from Marco Rubio to be joking as families were freezing in the cold, losing power and some of them losing their loved ones”, Christie said, demonstrating that he’s more than willing to counterpunch. She said her family and friends in the state were concerned.

“Do you want me to go down there with a mop?” he responded.

The governor, who has made early voting New Hampshire practically a second home in his campaign for the GOP nomination, also told his questioner that the Department of Environmental Protection had assessed beach erosion and that economic development officials were speaking with proprietors of businesses that suffered storm damage.

The nervous-sounding female student said she was a former resident of New Jersey, and had come to New Hampshire to study. Sister station WPVI Action News in Philadelphia interviewed Rosenello in North Wildwood Monday before Christie made his comments, and the mayor said no evacuation was ordered during the blizzard because the storm surge was predicted to be below 9 feet.

Christie’s hopes for the presidency hinge on New Hampshire.

“I got carried away at a town hall meeting last night”, Christie said at a news conference in New Jersey Tuesday afternoon, where he was announcing a plan to aid the financially struggling Atlantic City, another coastal town in his state. The Republican presidential candidate said he got carried away at a town hall, noting that it’s not the first time that has happened. Again, I’ve known the governor for many years. “I think he does have an agenda, he is in the political arena for presidency, I don’t know if necessarily has to be here 24/7 to do his job”.

“I have been in touch with him directly”, said Booker, a Democrat. “Maybe a little mopping and sweeping would give him an idea of just what we go through down here when a bad storm hits”.

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It’s a pitch few candidates can make as forcefully as Christie.