Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul gave GOP rival Chris Christie a simple choice for his job as governor of New Jersey: show up for work or resign. The Kentucky senator took to Twitter Wednesday to tell Christie he should resign given he has spent more than 200 days out of state while he campaigns on his experience as governor, reported Politico.
@ChrisChristie has spent 219 days outside NJ yet runs on being governor. He may not even be a resident never mind Gov.
— Dr. Rand Paul (@RandPaul) December 30, 2015
@ChrisChristie signed law requiring NJ public employees to be residents & spend majority of time there. He should follow it or resign. — Dr. Rand Paul (@RandPaul) December 30, 2015
@ChrisChristie @marcorubio can lob accusations of who works less all they want. Fact is both are right and both should show up or resign
— Dr. Rand Paul (@RandPaul) December 30, 2015
The Twitter storm came after Christie and yet another Republican hopeful, Marco Rubio, traded barbs in Iowa about the other's record of showing up for work in recent days.
"Dude, show up," Christie said of Rubio’s absence on a major end-of-year spending bill, which Rubio said he opposed, The New York Times reported. "Vote no. If you don’t want to, quit." A few hours later, Rubio shot the same attack right back at Christie. "You know, Chris has been missing in New Jersey for half the time."
Rubio has been a constant target for that line of attack from Democrats and among his own party, including Rand Paul who released an attack ad titled, "Where in The World is Marco Rubio?!" the Miami Herald reported.
Paul last went after Christie at the CNN Republican debate this month when he suggested Christie would start World War III with Russia over the Syria crisis, should he be elected president. Christie had argued that he would implement a no-fly zone and would be willing to order the shooting down of Russian planes that violate it.
Paul, gesturing toward Christie, said, "I think if you're in favor of World War III, you have your candidate," Business Insider reported. "What we want in a leader is someone with judgment, not someone who is so reckless as to stand on the stage and say, 'Yes, I'm jumping up and down, I'm going to shoot down Russian planes.'"
