Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama hit back at New Jersey Governor Chris Christie over Ebola on Tuesday, warning that quarantine policies based on fear could discourage US health care workers "doing God's work" in Africa to battle the epidemic. Obama issued a veiled but clear public rebuke to the tough-talking Republican who strode back onto the national stage in a tussle with the White House on Friday after ordering the isolation of a nurse who had just landed at Newark from Sierra Leone. The president warned that health workers who do a "really tough job" in Africa should be applauded, supported and monitored in a prudent fashion once they come back home. He said anti-Ebola precautions should be based on science not "on our fears."
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Chris Christie struck a defiant tone in responding to Ebola
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Christie's response shows the tone that will be on display if he runs for president
The saga reveals two sides of @placeholder â€” likely to be vying for prominence if he decides next year to run for president in a campaign that will likely contrast his abrasive style of management with the cool, 'no drama' persona adopted by Obama, which critics see as evidence of disengagement.