Political Wire

Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 192

November Surprises

A new episode of Trial Balloon just dropped for Political Wire members. Log in or become a member

Trial Balloon · Ep. 192: November Surprises

‘The Music Stops’

· Leave a Comment

Former Gov. Chris Christie (R) was asked by The Dispatch what was missing in his life.

Said Christie: “I like making a difference. I was saying this to another governor who’s getting ready to be term limited. And he’s trying to decide what to do with his life and his career. And I said to him, ‘Look, one of the things you need to know is, the music stops. Like you watch your successor gets sworn in, the troopers take you back to your house, you wake up the next morning, and they’re gone. And the cameras are gone. And the phone calls stop, and the music stops. And you got to figure out that okay, what do I substitute in for that?’ So I said to him: ‘Before you decide whether to run for something else or not, and before you dismiss running for something else, just understand the music stops.'”

He added: “So I think the biggest thing is just not being able to make a difference. Not being able to get that stuff done and being at the mercy of other people to do it. You want to get back to doing that. And I also think, unfinished business from 2016.”

‘I Would Like You to Do Us a Favor’

· Leave a Comment

Former Gov. Chris Christie (R), who rose to prominence as a U.S. Attorney, told ABC News hours before the release of the readout of President Trump’s phone call with the Ukraine president that Trump would be in trouble if he used language like “do me a favor.”

Said Christie: “For instance, if he’s saying, listen, do me a favor, go investigate Joe Biden, that’s one thing. If he’s saying, listen, I’m concerned about corruption, you’ve just gotten elected. We send hundreds of millions of dollars over there, you need to start looking at this, for instance, one of the things that occurred was the Hunter Biden situation, that becomes totally different.”

According to the transcript, Trump said: “I would like you to do us a favor.”

Christie Creates Think Tank Centered on Civility

· Leave a Comment

Former Gov. Chris Christie (R), “who built a political brand around unfiltered frank talk aimed at political opponents and constituents alike, is starting a think tank centered on something unexpected: Civility in politics,” WNYC reports.

Said Chrisite: “Unfortunately our politics have gotten so ugly and divisive in the country that people are not having civilized conversations.”

Ex-Christie Aide Said Governor Knew of Scheme

· Leave a Comment

An ex-aide to Chris Christie convicted of helping cause massive traffic delays on the nation’s busiest bridge to punish a political adversary attacked the former New Jersey governor ahead of her sentencing, telling the Washington Post that Christie knew in advance there would be lane closures because she had told him.

Said Bridget Kelly: “I’m angry. I think that he knew that I would be an easy target, and I’m wildly disappointed. I’m so angry at myself for trusting these people. I’m so angry at myself for not asking more questions. I find it really unfortunate.”

Ex-Christie Aide Sentenced to 13 Months In Prison

· Leave a Comment

“Bridget Kelly, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s deputy chief of staff, was sentenced in federal court to 13 months in prison Wednesday for her role in the 2013 George Washington Bridge lane closure scandal, commonly known as Bridgegate,” CBS News reports.

“Kelly and Bill Baroni, a top Port Authority of New York and New Jersey official, were originally convicted in 2016, but a federal appeals court threw out some of the counts against the two last year. Baroni had his sentenced reduced to 18 months in February. Kelly was initially sentenced to 18 months.”

Christie Says Trump Should Be Worried

· Leave a Comment

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) told ABC News that one remark Michael Cohen made during his House Oversight Committee testimony should worry President Trump.

Said Christie: “The words that he said today that would send a chill up my spine at the White House would be, ‘I am in constant contact with the southern district.'”

Christie Dishes on Trump

· Leave a Comment

“Chris Christie told Trump stories for nearly an hour last night at the Manhattan home of hedge fund billionaire Steven Cohen,” Axios reports.

“Standing in front of 10-foot-high windows on the first floor of a home that resembled a gallery of modern art, the former New Jersey governor said ‘the thing I’m proudest about’ — now that his book, Let Me Finish, has been out for two weeks — is that nobody he wrote about, some of whom still work in the White House, had dared to deny what he’d written.”

Said Christie: “They know I know even more.”

“Christie pointed at Gary Cohn, Trump’s former economic adviser, as he said this. Cohn nodded knowingly.”

Christie May Run for President Again

· Leave a Comment

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said he isn’t ruling out a presidential run in 2024, adding that he would only do it if he could “see a pathway to victory,” Politico reports.

Said Christie: “Yeah, listen, why not? I’m 56 years old, so you have to see… I’m not someone who wants to do it just to go through the exercise. But if I saw a pathway to victory and a way to make a difference, I certainly would consider it.”

Christie Says He’d Be a Better President Than Trump

· Leave a Comment

Former Gov. Chris Christie told Stephen Colbert that President Trump “blew it” and “got rolled” when he shut the government down with no plan on how to reopen it.

Said Christie: “If you’re going to do this, you’d better have an exit plan.”

Christie said he still agrees with Trump’s policies “more than I agree with Hillary Clinton’s,” but admitted that Trump “has turned the Republican Party into something different that it was when I started to run for president.”

When asked if he would be a better president than Trump, Christie didn’t hesitate responding: “Yes.”

Christie Slams Kushner’s Father

· Leave a Comment

Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie said that Jared Kushner “was still ‘seething’ from events that took place more than a decade prior — when Christie, as a U.S. attorney, prosecuted Kushner’s father, Charles, for tax evasion, witness tampering and illegal campaign contributions, sending the elder Kushner to prison for 14 months,” the Washington Post reports.

Said Christie: “It’s one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes that I prosecuted when I was U.S. attorney. And I was a U.S. attorney in New Jersey — so we had some loathsome and disgusting crime going on there!”

Quote of the Day

· Leave a Comment

“I hardly think that they were organized enough to put together a Tom Clancy-type operation with Russia. Now, I could be proven wrong on that because, as I said, I was not there most of the time from, I’d say about June or so going through all the way to the election because I was spending my time in the transition.”

— Former Gov. Chris Christie (R), when asked by NPR whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election.

Christie Unleashes Blistering Attack on Jared Kushner

· Leave a Comment

“Chris Christie, who was ousted as chairman of Donald Trump’s White House transition team in 2016, has written a blistering attack on Jared Kushner, whom he accuses of having carried out a political ‘hit job’ on him as an act of revenge for prosecuting his father, Charles Kushner, a decade ago,” the Guardian reports.

“In his soon to be published book, Let Me Finish, Christie unleashes both barrels on Trump’s son-in-law… Christie blames this key player in the president’s inner circle for his ignominious dismissal shortly after Trump’s election victory in November 2016.”

As Steve Bannon confessed to Christie: “The kid’s been taking an ax to your head with the boss ever since I got here.”

“Even for a White House that has generated an extraordinary cornucopia of hypercritical kiss-and-tell books, Christie’s is exceptional for its excoriating description of events at which he was present… It is also exceptional as a chronicle of the score-settling and animosity that drove key decision-making in Trump’s nascent presidency.”

Christie Compares Trump to an Old Relative

· Leave a Comment

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) told ABC News that President Trump is like a “72-year-old relative,” saying that it’s hard to convince them they’re not doing the right thing.

Said Christie: “When people get older, they become more and more convinced of the fact that what they’re doing is the right thing and it becomes harder to convince them otherwise.”

Christie Won’t Take Chief of Staff Job

· Leave a Comment

Former Gov. Chris Christie told the New York Times that he told President Trump he doesn’t want to be considered to replace John Kelly as White House chief of staff.

Said Christie: “It’s an honor to have the president consider me as he looks to choose a new White House chief-of-staff. However, I’ve told the president that now is not the right time for me or my family to undertake this serious assignment. As a result, I have asked not to be considered for this post.”

Christie on Short List for Attorney General

· Leave a Comment

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) is being considered to replace Jeff Sessions as attorney general, two sources familiar with the matter tell CBS News.

“No decisions are expected soon, and the list of those being considered — which also includes Rudy Giuliani, outgoing Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, and former Attorney General William Barr, who served under President George H. W. Bush — is likely to grow in the coming days.”

Christie Says GOP Too Late on Health Care Messaging

· Leave a Comment

Chris Christie told ABC News that Republicans have been “ineffective” in pressing their case with voters on health care – by some measures, the most important issue for voters.

Said Christie: “In some of these competitive House seats in suburban areas, the pre-existing condition issue is one that’s really cutting. And the Republicans to this point, I think, have been pretty ineffective in terms of making their case on why they weren’t going after the pre-existing condition coverage and that we’re going to maintain it. I think you’re being drowned out by the amount of money that Democrats are spending on the issue.”

Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.

More about Taegan Goddard →