Five Blunt Answers from NJ Gov. Chris Christie
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Kena Betancur/Getty Images(TRENTON, N.J.) — This week, the people of New Jersey demonstrated their approval of Gov. Chris Christie loudly and clearly — two adverbs often used in sentences about the GOP star himself.
Christie won a second term as governor of the Garden State by a big margin, defeating his Democratic opponent Barbara Buono 60 percent to 38 percent. One of the reasons often cited for his popularity is his bluntness — Christie is known for being outspoken, for telling it like it is. Here are five examples of Christie’s blunt responses to questions fielded to him.
1. “I don’t give a damn about Election Day.”
Christie said this during a briefing to reporters on Superstorm Sandy, in response to questions about how the storm’s devastation would impact voting in the state — Election Day 2012 was just a week away. Christie refused to wade into politics. “I’ve got much bigger fish to fry than that,” he said.
2. “I don’t feel anymore effective today than I felt 12 weeks ago, no. Listen, folks who ask questions like that have absolutely no understanding of what’s going on or this process. This is about my longterm health.”
Christie gave this response during a press conference in May 2013, right after it was revealed that he’d undergone lap-band surgery in February.
3. “It’s none of your business. I don’t ask you where you send your kids to school, don’t bother me about where I send mine.”
This was an answer Christie gave to a question from a woman named Gayle who asked him why he was cutting funds for public schools and sending his kids to private school. The question was posed to Christie during an appearance on WNET-TV in June 2011. Christie went on to explain the reason why he and his wife, Mary Pat, chose not to send their children to public school. “Secondly, I pay $38,000 a year in property taxes for a public school system predominently in Mendham that my wife and I don’t choose to utilize because we believe, we’ve decided as parents, that we believe a religious education should be part of our children’s everyday education, so we send our children to parochial school,” he said.
4. “I believe the teachers in New Jersey in the main are wonderful public servants that care deeply. But their union, their union are a group of political thugs.”
Christie said this to ABC’s Diane Sawyer in an interview in April 2011, in response to ads that the N.J. Teachers Union was running against him at the time.
5. “If I were in the Senate right now, I’d kill myself.”
Christie gave this answer in an interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer‘s editorial board in October 2013 — during the government shutdown. Christie was asked what he would do if he were a member of the Senate, and he gave a straightforward answer.
Christie will be on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos on Sunday.
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