Chris Christie: I'd Be President If Trump Hadn't Run

By Staff Reporter
Posted on 01/08/18 | News Source: Washington Examiner

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie believes he would be in the White House if President Trump hadn’t entered the 2016 presidential race.

"It's incredibly frustrating to think to yourself, 'Wow, if this guy were not in the race, we'd win this thing,'" Christie told NJ.com in an interview published Sunday. "And I absolutely believe if Trump had not gotten into the race I think we would have won."

Christie sees “Bridgegate” — the scandal over closed lanes on the George Washington Bridge — as changing the course of his political future because he lost “the benefit of the doubt.”

"What Bridgegate did was deprive me of the benefit of the doubt — that's all," he said. "That's a big thing. But that's what it did."

Christie said he and his wife heard from supporters that they loved him but that they’d be voting for Trump.

"[The] stakes are exciting. The issues you're talking about are exciting," he said. "And ultimately frustrating at times because the reaction I would get from people and Mary Pat got this from going door to door, you know, they'd say, 'Oh gosh, you're Governor Christie's wife? We love him. He's so smart. He's so direct, he's so blunt. We love him. We're voting for Trump. But we love your husband. He's amazing.'"