Former Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J.m was asked about former President Donald Trump in an interview with Axios this week — and what he said grabbed headlines.
“I’m not going to get into a back-and-forth with Donald Trump,” he said curtly.
However, it’s a bit late for that.
Christie ran for president in 2016. He dropped out of the race during the primary elections after a disappointing showing and immediately endorsed Trump, with whom he maintains a complicated relationship.
He spearheaded Trump’s presidential transition and chaired Trump’s Opioid and Drug Abuse Commission.
However, Christie attracted Trump’s ire after a press conference on Sunday.
“Winning campaigns are always the campaigns that look forward, not backwards,” Christie told the Republican Jewish Coalition. “Plan for tomorrow, not a grievance about yesterday.”
Christie mentioned Trump by name, and he discussed the former president’s role in the party.
“If the president wants to talk about the future and spend most of his time talking about the future and what he sees next, then I’m sure that he’ll be a welcome voice in any kind of debate,” Christie said. “But if all we’re going to do is talk about grievance politics and put out statements saying either you reverse the 2020 election or Republicans shouldn’t vote in ’22 and ’24, I mean, that can’t be the leader of our party. It just can’t.”
Trump took offense.
“Chris Christie, who just made a speech at the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) in Las Vegas, was just absolutely massacred by his statements that Republicans have to move on from the past,” Trump said in a statement obtained by USA Today.
Trump also ridiculed Christie’s low approval rating… but Christie hit back.
He told Axios on Thursday, “When I ran for re-election in 2013, I got 60 percent of the vote. When he ran for re-election, he lost to Joe Biden. I’m happy to have that comparison stand up, because that’s the one that really matters.”
Christie’s approval rating benefitted from his leadership during Hurricane Sandy in 2012. He won reelection amid the relief effort.
However, he later declined in popularity after a scandal dubbed “Bridge-gate” or “Bridge-ghazi.”
In 2013, his administration closed several lanes of the George Washington Bridge, which stretches from New York City to Fort Lee, New Jersey.
Christie was accused of closing the lane intentionally to create traffic jams for Fort Lee’s Democrat mayor. Ambulances became caught in a traffic jam, and one person died amid the delays.
Christie left office in 2018 as one of the nation’s most vilified governors. An Insider poll put his approval rating at 14 percent. However, last year the Supreme Court voted 9-0 to overturn all charges against Christie’s staff.
In response to Trump, Christie defended his decision to focus on the future. He told Axios reporter Mike Allen, “I made the conscious decision, Mike, that I want to spend my time combatting the policies of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and trying to help Republicans win governorships and the House and the Senate in 2022. This is not an argument that I’ll walk away from.”
Allen speculated that Christie might be “lacing up for a possible presidential run in 2024.”
So far, Axios has only released an excerpt from the interview, as a teaser. The outlet will air the full interview at 6 p.m. ET on Thursday via HBO and HBO Max.
Watch the full excerpt here —
The Horn editorial team