Chris Christie Denies Being ‘Held Hostage’ on Super Tuesday
"No, I wasn’t sitting up there saying, ‘Oh, my God,’" he said.
— -- Former GOP presidential candidate and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie today addressed his going viral on social media during Donald Trump’s victory speech after his Super Tuesday primary victories.
“No, I wasn’t being held hostage; no, I wasn’t sitting up there saying, ‘Oh, my God,’" Christie said during a news conference in Trenton, New Jersey.
“I was sitting up there, standing up there, supporting the person who I believe is the best person to beat Hillary Clinton of the remaining Republican candidates, and it’s why I’ve endorsed him,” Christie added.
“So I understand everybody had a lot of fun with it; it doesn’t matter to me. I’ve had a lot of fun on the Internet with people at times, too.”
Christie said he did not watch Mitt Romney’s scathing speech against Trump today, but saw scattered reports on it as he was preparing for the news conference. Christie, who dropped out of the 2016 campaign, said Romney’s opinion of Trump will “not change the extraordinary respect” he has for the former Massachusetts governor.
“Mitt Romney is a very, very good friend of mine. We have a political disagreement,” Christie said. “He has every right to express his opinions and his view and only he can determine whether he thinks what he said was appropriate and the timing and all the rest of it, that’s up for him to decide.
“It will not change the extraordinary respect I have for Gov. Romney and it won’t change the friendship that he and I have.”
But Christie still tweaked Romney: “I’m sure there are others in the race that wish he would make an endorsement and get out there and actually try to help someone, but he has chosen not to do that.”
And Christie reiterated that while he and Romney politically disagree, Trump is the “best remaining candidate on the stage.”
The New Jersey governor also made it clear that despite calls for him to resign, by six newspapers, he has “no intention” to do so.
“I intend to be here until January 16, 2018, and then I intend to leave to go to the private sector,” he said, “and that’s my intention, my plan, and there is nothing that will change that.”