Morning Wire - Chris Christie, 2024 Presidential Candidate Interview | Sunday Extra

Episode Date: September 10, 2023

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie launched his presidential campaign promising to unite the country and accusing Joe Biden and Donald Trump of dividing it. But much of Christie's campaign has been focused on taking down Trump and he seems to be making inroads in New Hampshire. In this latest edition of our presidential candidate series, we talk with Governor Christie about his political goals and campaign strategy amid an already bruising primary. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie launched his presidential campaign promising to unite the country and accusing both Joe Biden and Donald Trump of dividing it. But since the governor jumped into the race, Trump has only built on his commanding lead in the polls and skipped the first GOP debate, preventing Christie from being able to challenge him in person on the stage. In this latest edition of our presidential candidate series, we talk with Governor Christie about his political goals and campaign strategy amid an already bruising primary. I'm Daily Wire, editor-in-chief John Bickley, with Georgia Howe. It's Sunday, September 10th, and this is an extra edition of Morning Wire.

Joining us now is former New Jersey Governor Christi. Governor Christie, thanks for joining us. My pleasure. Happy to be here. So, Governor, you launched your campaign with a two-hour speech about how America is getting smaller and how Obama, Trump, and Biden have all divided the country into smaller and smaller subgroups. You say you're going to unite Americans again. what skill or quality do you have that you believe can help overcome these divisions?

You know, because in the biggest job I've had as governor in New Jersey for eight years, I was a Republican conservative governor who governed a very blue state, had to work with the Democratic legislature all eight years that I was here. I had to learn how to bring people together and how to get results. No one else in this race has had that kind of experience to deal with what the real Washington is like, which is difficult and divided at the moment, but one that we can overcome through the right type of strong leadership. And that's what I provided in New Jersey,

and it's what I'll provide to the country. Here's a recent headline from Politico. They said Chris Christie is actually gaining support for president from Democrats. The article went on to say they just love your Trump bashing persona. Who are you trying to appeal to? Trying to appeal to everybody. initially you have to appeal to Republicans to win the primary. But I don't think you do that by being different than who you are.

I think what appeals to all voters is the truth. And that's what I'm giving in this campaign. And that's what I'll continue to give when I'm elected president. When you say truth, what truths specifically are these connected to claims made by Trump or are these truths about policies? Can you expand on that for us? Sure, it's about both. So clearly Donald Trump's claim that he won the 2020 election.

is not true. Donald Trump's claims that he built the wall when he only built 52 miles are not true. Donald Trump's claims that he's the guy who was able to bring fiscal responsibility when he added $6.5 trillion for the debt, not true. A guy who said he was going to repeal or replace Obamacare didn't do it. But the same things apply to Joe Biden. He said he was going to bring the country together. He ran far to the left. He's added tremendous trillions to our debt as well. he's made it's weaker around the world. So this is not just about any one person, but it's about those people, the policies they said they were going to pursue and did not.

And those are the things that we have to be focused on are both because a president can talk about certain policies that they want to put forward. But as we know, a lot of things are going to come across your desk as president that could not have been anticipated. Whether you look at George W. Bush and 9-11, Barack Obama and the financial crisis, Donald Trump and COVID, Those are all things that were not part of the campaigns that elected those people for the most part, but became huge parts of their presidency. So you need to not only examine what they say about policy, but whether they tell the truth as a leader or not, whether you can count on them to tell the truth.

You've presented your campaign as a straight shooting campaign, and you've specifically focused a lot of your aim on Trump. Do you actually believe it's possible to peel away Trump supporters, which are a pretty significant percentage of the report? public and voting base. Is that actually possible? He has a lot of loyalty. Well, he does in some sectors. But for instance, in the last poll in New Hampshire, he was at 34%. That means 66% of the voters in New Hampshire want someone else. And so, you know, I look at these national polls and they make me laugh. We don't have a national primary. We have an electoral process, both in the primary and in the general, that is a state-by-state process. And I think folks should remember that in 2016, Donald Trump didn't lead in one poll against Hillary Clinton.

Yet, on election day, Donald Trump won the majority of the states, won 306 electoral votes, and became president. In the very same way, if Donald Trump were to lose in Iowa or lose in New Hampshire, this race would be completely different instantaneously. So I don't worry about looking at national polls and peeling off people who say right now across the country they vote for Donald Trump. I'm looking at the 66% of people in New Hampshire who say they don't want him,

and I'm happy to fish in that pond of Republicans to try to make sure we beat him. On that front, what actions are you taking to focus on these early primary states? Spending most of my time in New Hampshire in South Carolina. And I think where you spend your time and where you spend your money is where you have the opportunity to have the greatest impact,

and that's what we'll be doing in New Hampshire and in South Carolina. You've cited in sort of broad strokes your complaints against Trump. What are some of the specific things you're saying on the campaign trail that you feel are actually resonating with supporters? Well, I do think that a lot of people really are concerned that the nomination of Donald Trump will be in the election of Joe Biden, and that Biden has beaten Trump once already, and that Biden can beat Trump again. And I think he will, given that Donald Trump will be sitting for all of March and most of April in a courtroom in Washington, D.C., being tried for a felony to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power. He's not going to be out there making the case against Joe Biden during that time.

And if he's convicted, it'll be very hard for him to have the credibility necessary to make the case against Biden. And that resonates with a lot of our voters who know what a bad job Joe Biden is doing and want to make sure he loses in 2024. And we need to be focused on that. I also think that people's concern about the fact that we are spending ourselves into oblivion, which is causing the inflation we've seen and a lot of risk for the future for our country for a national security perspective is resonating with folks as well. Now, one of the complaints from Trump that you've seemed to largely dismiss is about election integrity, but a lot of Republican voters do feel that's a big priority, a real issue.

How do you speak about that issue? Do you really think it's not a problem? No, I think we should always be concerned about election integrity. But there's a difference between being concerned about election integrity in general and saying that the 2020 election was stolen. Those are two very different things. Trump connects the two. They're not connected because the election wasn't stolen. The guy filed over 60 lawsuits, lost all of them.

There has not been evidence presented even by him to prove that the election was altered in any one state, let alone the five states. that he would have needed to change in order to change the result of the election. So we need to separate the two. And also to remember that elections are run by the individual states, not by the federal government. And I think that's a good thing. And so we need to focus on the states continuing to put election integrity measures into effect. They've done a great job. Brian Kemp's done a great job in Georgia doing that.

And I think you've seen the elections in Georgia since those election integrity measures have gone into. effect. There was no question about the highly contested elections in 2022 that were won by Brian Kemp, by Secretary of State Raffensberger, but also by Senator Warnock, huge turnouts in Georgia, and no question on integrity. The 2016 primary was very crowded, and that was one of the arguments for why Trump actually ended up being the nominee. Would you argue that some of the candidates need to drop out soon, and do you intend to be in for the long haul? You know, in 2016, Donald Trump, going into August, was behind Jeb Bush and Scott Walker.

Maybe he should have dropped out then. I mean, I just don't see how you answer these questions except to go out and campaign and look at what's happening state by state. And when you look at what's happening state by state in the early states, this thing is far from over. I'm running to win and I intend to win. So, you know, no, I'm not thinking about dropping out at the moment. moment when I'm in second place in New Hampshire at 14 percent. I'm not considering dropping out, and everybody else has to make their own judgments on that. Now, the next debate is September 27th. It's in California. Do you plan to alter or change your debate strategy for the next one, or are you

going to take a similar approach? Well, I'm going to be who I am, so I don't look at things as different approaches. Every debate is different because the questioners are different. The questions are different. And, you know, it may be a different group of people on the stage. You know, it may not be the same eight. There may be fewer. I suspect there will be. So the dynamic will change. But I have no interest in changing my approach. I'm going to go out there, listen to the questions, answer them honestly, and debate differences with my other opponents on the stage. I don't think there's any need to change strategy. I felt we did really well in the last debate by being who we are.

And I don't think you should go in there and try to be somebody you're not. So I'll just continue to be who I am and we'll listen to the questions and we'll answer them, honestly. Regarding the last debate, I think a lot of people expected that you would come out firing at Trump and you did. But then a lot of what took place actually turned into you versus Vivek Ramoswamy. Did that just organically happen or did you intend to do that going in? No, it's organically happened.

And that's what I mean in my answer to the last question. I didn't go in thinking about Vivek at all. But when he said ridiculous things like everybody else on the stage was bought and paid for when he was talking about Ukraine and people visiting Ukraine were people going to see their Pope Zelensky. You know, I mean, that kind of stuff is not only anti-Catholic by Vivek, but also just dead wrong. So, you know, that's why debates are with human beings who give answers that maybe you don't expect or anticipate. And I think if you're on the stage, you have an obligation to react to them. So I don't think I did anything differently than what people expected or that I said I was going to do.

I was the only one up there beside ASSA who said anything negative about Donald Trump. In fact, the vague said Donald Trump's the greatest president of the 21st century, which raises in my mind why he's running. because if he's the greatest president 21st century, I would think he'd want him back. But nonetheless, those things do abnormatically, and that's why I gave you the answer I gave to your earlier question. You know, all you can do is go in there, I think, and be yourself and react to what happens on the stage

with other folks as well. And those two dynamics will make the next debate different than the last one because the moderators will be different, the questions will be different, and it may be a different group of candidates. This is a hypothetical, of course, and there's lots of unknowns. But what would decide it for you in terms of choosing to throw your support behind another candidate? I'm planning to run and accept the nomination at the convention in Milwaukee next summer.

And that's all I'm planning right now and all I'm intending to do. Final question, kind of a fun one. You're former New Jersey governor and a big fan of Bruce Springsteen, who's All-American story's been very inspiring to you, said. Yes, sir. What song of his do you best relate to or feel best resembles your ideological or political philosophy? Well, how about if I just give you my favorite song? That would be great.

My favorite song is Thunder Road. I think it's a song that is welcoming and optimistic and looking to the future. And I think, you know, I was at all three of his shows in New Jersey this week. All three of them were different. All three of them were great. And he played Thunder Road and all three of them. So it was three good nights for me, and I enjoyed it. That sounds like a terrific time, and I agree. That's a great song.

Governor, thank you so much for joining us. Our pleasure, and I hope to come back again soon. We'll look for an opportunity. Thank you. Have a great day. That was Republican presidential candidate and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, and this has been an extra edition of Morning Wire.