Well, now we know the stuff of what Chris Christie is made: Opportunism laced with RINO tendencies.
Max Pizarro of Politicker NJ signaled earlier this week that Christie was on track to endorse Trump “in order to make himself that first key establishment player to legitimize the tycoon and set himself up as a forward-thinking ally in the Trump camp.”
Christie famously attacked and mocked Marco Rubio in their pre–New Hampshire debate, but was curiously silent when it came to Trump. So much so that afterwards,Yahoo News asked Christie if he could have effectively delivered punches against Trump.
“Of course I could . . . I do so at a time and place of my choosing. There’s no need for me to do that now,” Christie said. The next day, he dropped out of the race. Sure looks like there was a lot of behind-the-scenes maneuvering behind that.
“Many of us are surprised Christie never went after Trump,” says Scott Reed, senior political strategist at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Friendship may have also played a role. Christie has known Trump for 13 years. “We’ve always gotten along. Been friends for 13 years. I went to his wedding, the third one,” Christie told Yahoo News last summer.
But a bigger factor might be Christie’s need for a job after he leaves office in 2017. Being term-limited, he certainly wouldn’t mind being considered for attorney general in a Trump White House. And if John Kasich doesn’t pan out, he could easily now move to the top of Trump’s vice presidential short list.