Republican Rep. Peter King said he can’t see himself “working or doing anything for Ted Cruz,” after the Texas senator’s disparaging comments about “New York values” while criticizing Donald Trump in Thursday’s Republican presidential debate.  

“Everyone understands that the values in New York City are socially liberal or pro-abortion or pro-gay marriage, focus around money and the media,” Cruz said.  

But King pushed back against the comments, repeating Trump’s defense of New York City during 9/11, saying that people from all around the city responded and that New Yorkers served and died in the war in Iraq.  

“From the first moment, New York knew what to do,” King said, despite the fact the city did not know it would be attacked.  

King also criticized Cruz for opposing funding for relief after Superstorm Sandy and then pushing for relief from floods in Texas. He said donors in New York should not give to Cruz.  

“Anyone who gives money to Ted Cruz should get their head examined,” King said.  

Rep. Dan Donovan, another New York Republican whose district includes Staten Island and Brooklyn, also hit Cruz by pointing to September 11 and Hurricane Sandy.  

“The next time Senator Cruz is fundraising in Manhattan, I invite him to come to my district, where he can meet real New Yorkers, and maybe then he will think twice about wrongly insulting the integrity of the people I am so proud to call my fellow citizens,” Donovan said in a statement.  

At Thursday’s debate, Trump also held up New Yorkers’ response to 9/11, which led to a rare moment of agreement with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, herself a former senator from New York, as she tweeted support for the state.  

https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/688032377688424448  

Contact Garcia at EricGarcia@cqrollcall.com and follow him on Twitter @EricMGarcia