Obama Calls Chris Christie, Passes Phone to Bruce Springsteen
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Official White House Photo by Pete Souza(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – President Obama played peacemaker Monday on Air Force One en route to Ohio.
On the phone with New Jersey Gov. – and Bruce Springsteen superfan – Chris Christie to discuss Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts, Obama patched in the legendary rocker, who was joining him on the flight. Springsteen has famously avoided the governor because of political differences, somewhat to Christie’s dismay.
“The president told me if I had one more minute, there was someone else he wanted me to talk to,” Christie told reporters at a press conference. “In times of real difficulty, he thought the only thing better than one Jersey guy was two Jersey guys, and he put Bruce Springsteen on the phone.”
“Bruce said to me how proud he was of his state,” Christie said. “How proud he was and how tough we are. It was a good conversation today and it was great to talk to the president – and even better to talk to Bruce.”
A White House official said Christie’s description was an accurate account of the conversation. But when asked about the call on the tarmac here in Columbus, Springsteen indicated he didn’t want to talk about it.
“Sir, have you spoken with Gov. Christie since the storm?” a reporter asked Springsteen.
“Yes, we have,” he replied curtly.
“What did you say?” followed the reporter.
“Sorry, I have to get ready,” Springsteen said before walking off.
But when ABC’s Jake Tapper jokingly tweeted about the phone conversation, Springsteen’s official Twitter account retweeted it.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio