-Longtime Trump ally Chris Christie is
on a media rehabilitation tour,
ahead of a possible run for president in 2024,
while the man he helped catapult into office
is still spreading the same unhinged lies
about the election, this time,
and an interview with Mike Lindell.
For more on this, it's time for "A Closer Look."
[ Cheering, whistling, and applause ] ♪♪
If you've been watching CNN or MSNBC lately,
it seems like there's been one person, in particular,
who's been more ubiquitous than ever.
-We've spent the past hour
on Chris Christie
and what it's like to be him.
-Still ahead on "Morning Joe,"
former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
-Former governor of New Jersey Chris Christie
will join the conversation. -When we come back,
Chris Christie. -Joining us now,
former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
-Joining us now, the aforementioned
Chris Christie. -We're back with former
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie.
-Chris Christie joins me now.
-Former Republican governor of New Jersey Chris Christie.
-I mean, at this point,
Christie's on cable news so much,
they're going to start putting him
in a tiny box in the corner of the screen.
[ Laughter ] "And let's check in
on our Christie Cam.
[ Laughter ] Oh! Looks like he's arguing
with a stagehand about the Jets.
Let's see how this plays out."
[ Laughter ] I mean, my God,
he's been on cable news more often than
the reverse mortgage commercials starring Tom Selleck.
[ Laughter ] At least do us the courtesy
of growing the mustache, Christie!
[ Laughter ] Also, damn you, Selleck, and your silver tongue!
[ Laughter ] I took out a reverse mortgage,
thinking I'd score some quick cash,
and, now, Tom Selleck lives in my house
with my wife and kids!
[ Laughter ] In fact, he's doing
the reverse mortgage commercials from my attic!
[ Laughter ] And, even worse,
he's best friends with the Sea Captain now.
[ Laughter ] -Love me some Selleck.
He's my favorite of the "Three Men and a Baby."
Sorry, Guttenberg.
[ Laughter ] True story --
every night, I do a Q&A with the audience,
and, every night, at least one person says,
"Bring back the Sea Captain,"
and then, the rest of the audience
just starts chucking rocks at whoever said it.
[ Laughter ] Meanwhile, all I can think is,
"Where did everybody get loose rocks in New York?"
[ Laughter ] Anyway...
[ Ding ] ...cable is so desperate to fill time
that CNN even aired a ludicrous special focused entirely
on Christie, called...
Is it called that because "Being" is
the only title he has left?
[ Laughter ] Governor? No, he left office
with a dismal approval rating. Candidate? Oh, no.
He crashed and burned hard in the GOP primary.
But, he is still, technically, a being.
[ Laughter ] And I'm sorry,
but is there a mystery to being Chris Christie?
You guys are acting like he's some
weird-lifestyle-having guy
like everybody wants to know about.
He's not Harry Styles or Banksy.
He's a loudmouth from New Jersey.
If you want to know what he's thinking,
you don't need CNN.
You just have to be within earshot,
[ Laughter ] which is for him, I think,
like a mile?
[ Laughter ] In fact, if this show was authentic New Jersey,
it wouldn't be called "Being Chris Christie."
It'd be called...
[ Laughter, cheering, and applause ]
The only way I'd be interested
in a show called "Being Chris Christie" is
if I could enter his head, "Being John Malkovich"-style,
and make him do something embarrassing, like,
I don't know, stand behind someone who hates him.
Oh, right, you know, he did that.
[ Laughter ] Okay, I'd make him
sit alone on a closed beach. Oh, he did that, too.
[ Laughter ] You know what? Never mind.
Now, let's just establish, right off the bat,
that Chris Christie is without credibility, when it comes to Trump.
He repeatedly said he wasn't suited to be president,
that he didn't have the temperament
or experience for the job.
Then, he became one of the first prominent Republicans
to endorse him in 2016.
Then, he stood by him throughout his presidency
and even helped him prep for that first debate in 2020,
where Trump yelled nonstop for 90 minutes,
like a caller on a sports radio show
who shouts over Mike Francesa.
[ New Jersey accent ] No, no, Mike, you don't understand.
Excuse me, Mike.
It's good that the Mets let Syndergaard go.
Excuse me because Jacob deGrom is never injured.
[ Laughter ] You know, it's nice, when the Mets are in the news,
to [bleep] so we can take a break
from making fun of the Jets, but it is true --
Noah Syndergaard, who was here, on this show, not too long ago,
is now a Los Angeles Angel.
And, when he was here, he certainly acted
like he was going to be a Met for life.
There were some signs, like, when I said,
"Hey, maybe we can get dinner when the season starts,"
he said, "U..."
[ Laughter ] ...m...
maybe?"
So, your nickname might be Thor, but to me,
you're a Loki.
[ Laughter ] [ Ding ]
Christie was so deeply invested
in getting Trump elected president and keeping him in office
that he helped prep him for that [bleep]show debate,
where Trump was so insane and unhinged
that the moderator had to keep shouting the word no at him
like a dog who wouldn't stop humping his owner's leg.
-I'll ask Joe. The individual -- -No.
-Did you get a half million? -No! Hey, Mr. President.
-Which was heavily -- -No. Mr. President.
No, no, go ahead. No, no, no.
Mr. President. Mr. President. -$3.5 million, Joe.
$3.5 million. -No, no, no.
No, Mr. President. -Go ahead.
-No! -Can I be honest?
It's a very important question. -Try to be honest.
-No. -It'd be good for you. -He stood up.
[ Laughter ] He stood up -No. The answer
to the question is no. -and he threatened --
[ Laughter ] -I mean, the only way
I want to hear from Christie is if he told us
he was a double agent trying
to destroy Trump's campaign from the inside.
[ As Christie ] Yeah, I helped him prep for the debate,
told him issues were for losers
and made him snort half a dozen Pixy Stix.
[ Laughter ] But Christie was a key part of the debate prep.
In fact, according to a new book...
[ Laughter ] First of all, there's never been a worse casting choice
[ Laughter ] for the role of Joe Biden than Chris Christie.
Biden's a soft-talking grandpa from Delaware,
and Christie's a New Jersey bully
with the temperament of a seagull
attacking a beach blanket in Atlantic City. [ Laughter ]
It's like if they couldn't get Tom Hanks
to play Sully Sullenberger and, instead,
went with Al Pacino.
[ As Pacino ] Whoa, buckle up, muchacho!
We are going down!
[ Laughter ] We got hit by a loose goose.
[ Laughter ]
This is your captain, Sully.
Isn't it weird?
If you had the last name Sullenberger,
would you name your kid Sully?
[ Laughter ] It's a nickname?
What's his real -- Chesley?!
[ Laughter ]
But the reason Trump apparently blew up at Christie
during that debate prep session was because Trump was obsessed
with all the nonsense conspiracy theories
Rudy Giuliani was pushing about Biden and his family.
So, Christie, playing the part of Biden,
brought up Trump's own conflicts of interest
to prep him for Biden's response.
[ Laughter ]
At one point, Trump said to Christie...
I'm not going to sit here and put up with it.
Alright, first of all, I love that,
while they were trying to prepare the president
for a nationally televised debate,
Rudy was sitting there distracting everyone,
trying to get his iPad to work.
[ Laughter ] [ As Giuliani ] My iPad keeps freezing.
"Rudy, that's not an iPad. That's a picture frame."
[ Laughter ] [ As Giuliani ] That can't be right.
I got it from my IT guy, Michael.
[ Laughter ] Now, as you may know,
not only was that debate prep a disaster,
just in terms of the debate itself, but, on top of that,
Christie and a bunch of other people in the room
got COVID from it and, even then,
Trump apparently had no concern, whatsoever,
for Christie's well-being.
In fact, in his new book...
[ Laughter ]
[ Laughter ] He's talking about COVID
like Christie's RA just found
a bag of weed in his sock drawer.
[ Laughter ] [ As Trump ] Are you gonna say
you got it from me, Chris? Because I'm already
on thin ice with the dean.
[ Laughter ] And, yet, despite the fact
that debate prep was a disaster and he got yelled at by Trump
and that he was complicit in and actively supportive of
a catastrophic and deeply corrupt presidency
that, among other things, subverted our democracy,
let a deadly respiratory disease spiral wildly out of control,
and cratered our economy, Christie said he really
only had one regret about his participation.
-In the last days of the Trump administration,
The New Yorker published a Q&A with you,
with the headline "Chris Christie Has No Regrets."
Really? -I really don't.
Look, Mike -- -You don't regret
prepping Donald Trump for his bid
to run for reelection?
-I do not. I do not.
The only regret I have about that is that -- -Some people --
-The only regret I have about that is
I caught COVID when I was doing it.
[ Laughter ] -It's pretty great when you're trying to see
if a person has a guilty conscience
and their only regret is --
[ As Christie ] I got sick. [ Laughter ]
It's like a judge asking a drunk driver
if he has anything to say before sentencing and they yell,
"Just that no one seems to care
that my Camaro's all scratched up!"
[ Laughter ]
So, now, Christie's trying
to rehab his image as part of a book tour,
by casting himself as some sort of straight shooter,
when it comes to the 2020 election.
Look, I guess, at this point,
any Republican who's willing to say
the election wasn't stolen deserves a shred of credit,
which tells you just how far the GOP has fallen.
But, why are we taking Chris Christie,
of all people, seriously? He stood by
this obviously monstrous man for years
and he still refuses to say
whether he'd support Trump again in 2024.
-Donald Trump has made it pretty clear
he wants to run for president again.
Would you support him?
-Oh, look, I don't know that he's going to run.
-What if he does. -I don't know if I'm going to run.
Oh, look, "What if?"
I've learned -- -I mean, it's not as if
it's a big secret that he's seriously considering it.
-He's seriously considering it. Let's see what happens
when he does and let's see who he is
and what he says and how he conducts himself.
[ Laughter ] -Oh, yes, let's see which Donald Trump will show up.
Will it be the well-spoken and serious statesman,
or will it be the one who exists?
[ Laughter and applause ] You know,
the being Donald Trump.
I'm sorry, you still think there's a mystery
as to how Donald Trump is going to conduct himself?
Having kids, I've read a lot of books
about what to expect at different stages,
but not one of them has said...
[ Laughter and applause ]
It's especially ludicrous to claim you don't know
how Trump will conduct himself when, as we speak,
he's still spreading the big lie
that Christie supposedly criticizes him for.
Trump just did an interview with MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell,
where he and Lindell competed for worst posture
[ Laughter ] and rambled on about the same old
election conspiracy theories.
And, by the way, Christie has no credibility,
especially when it comes to questions
about the 2020 election because he repeatedly insisted,
in the run-up to the election,
that Trump would accept the result,
even though Trump was loudly proclaiming, at the time,
that the only way he could lose is if it was stolen.
-You know this guy well.
Do you believe he would
follow critical conventions in the United States
and have a peaceful transition of power
for those months between this election result
and the next inauguration?
-There's no question in my mind that President Trump
will participate in a peaceful transition of power,
if he does not win tomorrow night.
-If it doesn't go the president's way --
you know him pretty well --
is he prepared to accept defeat?
-Yes. Yeah, I think he is.
I think there also is part of him that knows
that not leaving the White House,
putting up that kind of stink, in terms of peaceful transition,
just is not the way he wants to leave.
-I'm sorry, you thought Trump wouldn't put up a stink?
That's all he ever does, put up a stink.
If he had his own line of deodorant,
that would be the tagline.
[ Laughter ]
For the life of me, I can't understand
why the media is willingly participating
in the rehabilitation of a guy like Chris Christie.
He was a central figure in the rise
of an obviously horrendous president
who left the nation in ruins.
He shouldn't get a chance to launder his reputation
ahead of another presidential run,
with reporters following him around,
asking him what he thinks. The only two things that
should follow Christie around are support for Trump and...
-A stink.
[ Laughter ] -This has been "A Closer Look."
♪♪
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