Chris Christie Joins Rick Scott in Hitting Charlie Crist on Trade

Alongside possible Republican presidential contender Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., Gov. Rick Scott, R-Fla., continued his focus on Florida ports -- and attacking the Democrat he is most likely to face in November -- on Thursday.

Speaking at Port Tampa Bay, Scott doubled down on his calls to invest $1 billion for Florida ports over an 8-year period, including the 4 he has served in Tallahassee. During his time in office, Florida has sent more than $700 million to help the Sunshine States ports as they ready for the Panama Canal expansion.

As we work to create even more jobs for the next generation, investing in our ports is key to our success, Scott said on Thursday. Our ports are our connection to global commerce and the world. If we want to become a destination for the worlds tourists and for the worlds jobs we have to keep investing in our ports.

While many states waited on Washington to help fund infrastructure needs, Florida never waited on the federal government to step in and help us be more competitive or successful, Scott added. In Florida, we have made investments in our seaports and expedited funding for major ports projects and I am proud we are committing to invest a total of $1 billion in Floridas ports over our entire 8-year term in office.

Following the Scott teams lead earlier in the week, Christie came out swinging against former Gov. Charlie Crist on trade. Crist is the favorite for the Democratic nomination to challenge Scott despite spending most of his political life in the GOP.

"Charlie Crist neglected Floridas economy while he was governor and decided to make it worse by raising taxes, increasing debt and leaving a $3.6 billion deficit behind, Christie said. Crist also neglected Floridas ports a key part of this states economy and it led to over 150,000 trade jobs being lost in Florida. Gov. Scott has done the opposite, making smart investments into ports, leading to the creation of over 120,000 trade jobs. Im used to seeing career politicians like Charlie Crist in New Jersey all talk and no action. But like me, Gov. Scott cleaned up his predecessors mess and Florida is much better off for it."