Chris Christie spoke to a crowd in New Hampshire on March 27 about extending the minimum age to receive social security at an appearance he made as part of his “maybe” campaign for a bid for president.
In painting several scenarios of what he would do if he were elected to the White House, the former Republican New Jersey governor said he favored term limits for Congress, the need for the United States to support Ukraine against Russia’s invasion, reaffirmed his pro-life views, and touched on stopping drugs from coming over the border from Mexico and ending friendly arrangements with China.
But in establishing the reason why he had made a trip back to the first-in-the-nation primary-state, Christie laid into both former President Donald Trump and current President Joe Biden.
Christie opened his nearly two-hour speech, which seemed at times more like a political standup comedy routine to the standing room-only crowd at the St. Anselm College’s Institute of Politics, by taking jabs at Biden, Trump, and Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
In referring to the young woman believed to be the gunman in the Nashville shooting, Christie said the shooting is an example of a country riddled with anger and mental illness that politicians are only addressing by calling for more penalties for offenders instead of reforming the cause of them.
Christie said that Trump was part of the anger problem facing America, explaining away his once staunch support of the Republican president by saying it was a strategic mistake supporting Trump in 2016 after losing his own bid for the White House.
“We all made a strategic error in 2016, supporting Trump,” Christie said, with one man shouting from the crowd that he forgives Christie for supporting Trump. Christie condemned Trump for what he said was putting his own need for self-retribution above the needs for America.
Christie said the only reason that Biden was in office is because the Republicans chose “such a bad candidate.” He referred to his own status as a popular Republican governor in a very Democratic state to make the point that Republicans can win over Democrats “with the right candidate.”
In driving home his point about Republicans needing to field better candidates, he talked about failed Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker and Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake.
“Can we please not nominate Kari Lake for anything again and can we please not nominate Herschel Walker for anything again,” implored Christie.
Leaving few stones unturned in bolstering himself as the best choice out of the growing list of potential contenders for the GOP nominee, should he run, Christie also criticized DeSantis for deeming Ukraine a territorial dispute that the United States should not be involved in.
“When you get your property survey and find out that the neighbor’s fence is six inches on your property, that’s a territorial dispute,” he said, remarking “would someone please make a wake up call to Tallahassee.”
Christie said that helping Ukraine is an investment for America, making the argument that if the United States doesn’t take a stand against the authoritarian forces of Russia, it will serve as a green light for the Kremlin and its allies to embody a massive geographic takeover of ally territories with major residual impacts on America’s foreign trades and thus its economy.
He also criticized DeSantis for saying that America has no interest in getting involved in proxy wars with China, saying that if he were president, he would most definitely focus on ensuring that China does not succeed in what he characterized as an obvious plot to become the supreme global ruler.
“I don’t want to live in a world where America is not the leader of the world,” he said.
Christie also had criticism for former Vice President Mike Pence, who is considering a run for president.
While Pence has denounced Jan. 6, Christie said that when the former vice president said, “Let the people decide” to a question about Trump’s belief that the election was stolen, it is a sign that Pence lacks the leadership needed to safeguard the U.S. Constitution.
“Hell, I'll answer that question,” Christie said, emphasizing that any suggestion to “suspend the U.S. Constitution” should be “disqualifying” for a presidential candidate.
