Chris Christie got a rock-star reception on Monday — not from voters, but from soon-to-be GOP lawmakers. The New Jersey governor was on Capitol hill to deliver a pep-talk to newly elected Republican congressmen at a closed-door lunch on Capitol Hill. The message: “He just told us to have fun with everything. He was inspiring,” Florida congressman-elect Carlos Curbelo tells National Review Online.
Christie, who himself campaigned as a Washington outsider, sounded much more like GOP leadership this election cycle. He stumped heavily for Republicans across the country with a ”pass legislation to show you can govern” message. Many freshmen in the room Monday were beneficiaries of Christie’s campaigning.
Curbelo says Christie pushed the group to work on passing major tax reform and a national energy policy as well as immigration reform. “He did not go into details on immigration reform,” Curbelo says. “He just said the American people expect it.”
The 2016 presidential hopeful was a hit with other party rising stars. Utah congresswoman-elect Mia Love says the governor was “great, just great. Inspiring even.”
Pennsylvania sixth district congressman-elect Ryan Costello says Christie advised the class not to get too cocky about their election results. According to Costello, Christie cautioned that the results of the election “did not reflect that people love us.” “It’s that they don’t like what was coming out of the Democratic party,” he says.
Costello says Christie then pushed them to get as much done in the next two years as possible. “He said, ‘We have this small window of opportunity, we need to put legislation on the president’s desk.’”
New Jersey freshman Tom MacArthur says the room gave Christie a standing ovation after his remarks. “There were a lot of fans of his in that room, that’s for sure.”
As for 2016 speculation, Curbelo tells NRO that he is hopeful for a Christie run, saying the salutary effects of his governorship have already reached beyond New Jersey. “He has done a lot for Florida,” Curbelo says. “I think it would make sense for him to run for president.”
Christie did not take questions from reporters, telling the gaggle that he had to catch a train.