EXCLUSIVE: Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said elections should seize on a number of issues to promote GOP policies on the campaign trail ahead of the 2022 elections – ranging from education to crime and foreign policy.
In an interview with Fox News, Christie said he felt it was “imperative” for him to write his new book, “Republican Rescue: Saving the Party from Truth Deniers, Conspiracy Theorists, and the Dangerous Policies of Joe Biden,” casting the last two years as “historically bad years for the Republican Party.”
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“We lost the majorities in the House and the Senate and the White House,” Christie said, noting the importance of the GOP moving to “focus on the future and stopping Joe Biden and the Democrats.”
“We need to focus on this runaway inflation, the horrible situation at the border, the problem with our educational system,” Christie said of Republicans heading into the 2022 midterm election cycle. “I think those are issues the American people care much more about.”
Chris Christie, former governor of New Jersey, speaks during the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) Annual Leadership Meeting in Las Vegas, on Nov. 6, 2021.
(Bridget Bennett/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Let’s not spend time on the past,” Christie said, referring to Republicans who claim the 2020 election was “stolen.”
“The public always wants elections to be about tomorrow, not about yesterday, and that’s a good thing,” Christie said. “That means we have an optimistic country that believes that America could be better tomorrow than it is today, and, I believe that.”
Christie outlined the top issues he feels Republicans should focus on as they try to regain majorities in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
“Education — we saw this in Virginia,” Christie said, referring to GOP Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin’s campaign focusing on education and efforts to remove critical race theory from classrooms in the state. “The Democratic Party wants to turn education to teachers unions, and Democrats don’t think parents should have any role in deciding what their children learn.”
“We need to focus on school choice, and parental choice, and parental involvement,” Christie said.
The former New Jersey governor also said Republicans should run on crime, which he said is “becoming a huge problem in this country.”
“We have to be the party that is smart on crime and gives people the quality of life they need,” Christie said, shifting to the economy.
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“We need to deal with inflation, and the massive government spending that’s causing the inflation,” Christie said. “It is taking money out of people’s pockets every day.”
Christie also said Republicans need a strong message on foreign policy to contrast with what he calls the Biden administration’s “weak” and “inconsistent” approach.
“We need to deal much more firmly with China, Russia, North Korea and Iran and make sure that they understand that America is not going to be allowing them to spread mischief around the world,” he said.
Christie criticized President Biden, saying his foreign policy is “making America look weak and indecisive.”
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“He is making our friends around the world nervous,” Christie said. “Our friends around the world need to know that being a friend of America is a good thing and we will stand up for our friends and principles around the world.”
He added: “Biden’s foreign policy has been weak and inconsistent.”
Christie also said Republicans need to fight for fair elections.
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“We need to make sure we stand up for election integrity and support states trying to change their election laws,” Christie said. “We need to make sure the public has complete confidence.”
Christie, referring to states requiring voters provide identification, said, “If I have to show my ID to get into an office building in New York City,” then it makes sense to show an ID when voting.
Reacting to the Justice Department’s lawsuit against Georgia’s new election law, which includes voter ID, Christie said it was “totally predictable.”
“This is the Biden administration playing politics with the Justice Department,” Christie said. “The attorney general has been an enormous disappointment in that regard. I said he’d bring professionalism back to the DOJ, but so far, all he’s done is to pursue through the courts the political agenda of the Biden administration.”
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Christie added: “And in the end, what I make of it, is it is politics in the 21st century, and people are trying to use courts once again to do that, and I do not think they will be successful.”
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones (left) and Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie talk prior to the National Football League game between the New York Jets and the Dallas Cowboys on Oct. 13, 2019, at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
(Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Looking ahead to 2022, Christie said he will be involved in helping the Republican Party win again. Christie is helping to chair a fundraising effort of the Republican Governors Association and told Fox News he is working to co-chair the National Republican Redistricting Trust to ensure that states going through redistricting have the “legal and financial support they need for fair maps.”
Meanwhile, when asked about Biden’s presidency, Christie said he has known the president for “many years.”
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“I first met him when I was a college student — my wife and I went to the University of Delaware and met him — I’ve known him for a long time,” Christie said. “But I think his presidency has been an abject failure, and a failure because of the decisions he’s made, and he has not governed the way he promised he would in the campaign.”
Christie, who ran for president in 2016, said that during the 2020 presidential campaign, Biden ran on unity.
“He said he was going to unite the country, but he has conceded the presidency to the left wing of his party,” Christie said. “People know that’s not what they voted for. Especially independents are very upset about what Biden has done.”
Christie added: “And I think they are letting him know through poll numbers.”
