New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Wednesday he's got one regret from the time he spent in office: Hiring the people who "pulled the shenanigans" at the George Washington Bridge.
"I know I have done the very best job I can and I know I have made a huge difference for the people in my state," Christie told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program, when asked if his low ratings bother him. "I also know I have been the predominant public voice in my state for the last 16 years."
Former Christie deputy chief of staff Bridget Kelly and former Port Authority of New York and New Jersey executive Bill Baroni were convicted last fall, and have been sentenced to prison for their roles in the closure of lanes on the George Washington Bridge, which was done in retribution for the Fort Lee mayor's refusal to support Christie's re-election bid.
Both have appealed their convictions and are free on bail, but are scheduled to report to prison in late September.
Christie said he does believe Kelly and Baroni thought they were doing what he wanted, but they were not.
"When you look at that time we had over 100 elected Democrats who were endorsing re-election," said Christie. "Why did they do that? They did it because we had worked with Democrats over four years, a Democratic legislature, to pass things. The idea that I would ever want something like that done is ridiculous. It was done by a group of folks who, you know, clearly were on their own agenda and not mine. Because if that were the case, if that were systemic, you wouldn't just have one instance of it."
He said he does have sympathy for the pair, but still they need to he held responsible for their conduct.
"How do you not have sympathy for someone who is a single mother with four children, going to jail?" said Christie. "I wouldn't want to see that happen to anyone, but I will also tell you that I am to this day still incensed at people that would use public power and public authority that was given to them by someone who was elected by the people to conduct themselves in that way."
Christie, though, does not agree that President Donald Trump has undermined the judiciary with his comments, as he does not believe the judicial branch can be undermined.
He does think that everyone has the right to criticize judges, but not to make the matter a personal one, as Trump has done on occasion.
"What the president's done, I think to be fair, is he's respected those orders [on his travel ban]," said Christie. "Where you would undermine the judiciary is if a judge puts an order in effect and he says Gen. John Kelly of Homeland Security at the time, to hell with it, don't listen to the order, keep doing what I told you to do."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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