As it becomes clearer that Donald Trump will likely be the Republican nominee; Governors, Senators and Representatives will gather at the Trump ‘power teet’, stepping on each other in the process to chum it up with the potential President. I thought the first round of elected supporters would be your delusional fringe politicians who spout hateful nonsense like Steve King. I definitely did not expect a somewhat reasonable guy like Chris Christie to be supporting Trump this early in the race. Last week, he announced his endorsement of Donald Trump in a bullshit-filled speech that was a clear political power grab.
Chris Christie on Donald Trump pre-endorsement:
“I don’t think he is suited to be President..he doesn’t have the temperament or the experience”
“We do not need reality TV in the Oval Office right now…President of the United States is not a place for an entertainer”
“What you need is a president who’s had the experience and the know-how to do this and not someone who’s just going to talk off the top of their head”
“I don’t believe the skills you are talking about are transferable to governmental setting”
All politicians eventually eat their words and support their party’s nominee (regardless of how much they disagree or dislike the nominee’s principles). Lets not forget the Clinton-Obama battle in 2008. The difference here is Christie just got out the race two weeks prior and there were still very qualified candidates in the GOP race to select from. Governor Christie was probably still busy clearing out the Krispy Kremes from his campaign headquarters but wasted no time backing Trump. If Christie were to take the principled route and support the candidate with the “Best chance to win a General Election” (as he says in the video above), he would throw his 350 lbs behind John Kasich, not Trump. According to poll aggregator Real Clear Politics, John Kasich has the best chance to beat Clinton in a General Election, with Donald Trump having the WORST chance to beat Clinton at this point in the race. But Christie knows Kasich has zero chance to win the nomination, so he made a calculated decision in supporting the odds on favorite, Trump. It is much easier to make demands when you get in on the ground floor VS. throwing your support in July or August (when pretty much all republicans will be supporting Donald Trump).
You have to respect the move I guess. Trump is most likely going to be the nominee so you might as well sack up, throw your weight behind him and see if you can land a VP nod or maybe Attorney General. Some will call it a snake move, and it 100% is, but ALL politicians are snakes in the grass, Republican or Democrat.
Christie jumping on the Trump bandwagon two weeks after he clearly articulated why Trump is not fit to be president is EXACTLY what Americans hate about politics. Lets be real though, politics isn’t about principles, it’s about exploiting every situation to advance your power and influence. We are not surprised when Donald Trump refuses to disavow the support of David Duke and the KKK, we shouldn’t be surprised by Christie supporting Trump.
-El Chapo