Who Knew? Chris Christie Can Talk About Something Other Than Being Against Trump

Erick Erickson kicked off the second day of his Gathering in Atlanta by talking to former New Jersey governor Chris Christie. Throughout the campaign, all we’ve heard from Christie in the media is how he wants to take on Donald Trump in a debate, but Erickson said that he’s not asking the 2024 GOP candidates about Trump. As a result, Christie gave a wide-ranging interview in which he proved to be engaging and funny.

Christie led off by telling the audience that he is running for president again because he’s tired of America “doing small things.” The first issue he spoke about was education.

“When one of every three children in this country does not read a grade level, that is a crisis,” he said. “And we have been absolutely dominated by the teacher unions in this country.” Christie declared that he wants to “go for educational freedom in the extreme,” including school choice for every family in the country.

The former governor said that he also wants to tackle government spending. He highlighted his record of cutting spending in the Garden State, including balancing the budget without raising taxes, and said that he wants to do the same thing with the federal budget.

Next, Christie talked about crime. With his experience as a former federal prosecutor, he understands the importance of fighting crime, particularly in our cities.

“It’s unacceptable and it’s unsettling that people are afraid to walk the streets to go to the supermarket to go and pick up their dry cleaning because they’re scared,” Christie declared. “And so if these liberal prosecutors in these cities are unwilling to prosecute this crime, which they are, I will put in an attorney general, and my first instruction to him or her will be that the federal government will prosecute those violent crimes until those cities in the city wake up and do it themselves.”

Christie spoke about building relationships with countries like India and Vietnam, along with nations in Eastern Europe, in order to pivot away from China and Russia, and at that point, he brought up Trump for the first time.

“And just yesterday, Donald Trump told me that he was the apple of Putin’s eye,” Christie said. “I want to tell you the truth: I don’t want to be the apple of Putin’s eye.” The audience erupted in hearty applause at that line.

Erickson pivoted Christie back to crime by asking him about the domestic terrorism that has taken place around the site of an upcoming public safety training center in Atlanta.

“The U.S. attorney in Atlanta should be all over this,” Christie replied. “This is multi-jurisdictional in terms of the people who are perpetrating these acts. This is what the federal prosecuting system was made to deal with.” He went on to say that racketeering charges should apply in these cases as well.

Erickson asked Christie if he gets frustrated with the mainstream media’s characterization of him as solely an anti-Trump candidate. “This is the most refreshing interview of the campaign so far because the first six questions were not about Trump,” Christie quipped, adding, “And then question seven is, ‘Why do you talk so much about Trump?'”

Christie sees himself as a truth-teller in this race. He’s not necessarily the only one speaking the truth, but he realizes how important it is.

“The truth matters,” he said plainly. “It is not negotiable.”