Chris Christie and David Axelrod converse at Arizona State University

By Lauren Whitby
March 21, 2024

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie joined political strategist David Axelrod on Tuesday at Arizona State University as part of Axelrod’s “Democracy at Work” series, which invites experts from across the political spectrum to explore topics on democracy, politics and higher education.

Christie, who served as governor from 2002 to 2008 and later ran for president in 2016, recently dropped out of the 2024 presidential race. Axelrod is a political commentator and the former chief strategist and senior advisor to President Barack Obama.

The two discussed Christie’s career in politics, his insights on the current political climate and the 2024 election, among other topics.

“I think one of the diseases in both (political) parties right now is that people care more about their title than they care about what they were sent there to do,” he said.

The example he shared was when several Republicans normalized Trump’s refusal for a peaceful transition of power on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the premises. Christie shared that the actions of those politicians were primarily out of fear of losing their relationship with Trump and ultimately their political power.

Trump’s upcoming trial on the January 6 events is particularly timely. It’s likely Americans will hear a verdict in time for election day.

“It has the most damaging collection of witnesses, because most of the witnesses are Republicans who used to work for him,” said Christie.

“A verdict probably comes in October and he's on the ballot on November 5th.”

Christie discussed his opinions on both Trump and President Joe Biden, beginning with his concern for Trump’s character. He shared that when it comes to judging someone’s character, our role as Americans must come before our political affiliation.

“When someone shows you that they're not just someone you disagree with, that's fine. That's our system,” he began.

“When they show you that they have such severe character flaws that you wonder about whether you can really trust them to make decisions that are really in the country's best interest and not in their own personal interest, then whatever uniform you're wearing can't be relevant in that judgment.”

Axelrod didn’t hesitate to mention that Christie openly supported Trump in 2016.

“I remember watching you because you were the first sort of establishment Republican to stand up and say, ‘I'm with him.’ And I remember that press conference,” said Axelrod. “There was this image of you standing there and he was saying something that he clearly shouldn't have said, and you thinking, what am I doing here?”

Christie was such a prominent supporter of Trump that he was runner up to be his vice president.

“It was me or Mike Pence,” he said. Trump ultimately chose Pence because, according to Christie, he thought Pence looked more like a vice president.

Reflecting back on those years, Christie sees things differently now. "You did something that is unusual in politics, which is, you were reflective about things, decisions you had made in the past. And you talked about the corrupting nature of ambition," Axelrod said.

In America, we don't always get to vote for what we want to vote for. We get to vote for who's left.

Chris Christie Politician and former New Jersey Governor March 19, 2024, "Democracy at Work: A conversation with David Axelrod and Chris Christie"

In regard to being one of the first Republicans to back Trump in 2016, Christie has his regrets.

“I don't think I completely understood at that moment just how flawed he was and is. But I certainly had indications of it,” he said.

“And I said, ‘Well, but look, it's going to be him or Hillary Clinton. I don't want Hillary Clinton to be president.’ So I rationalized it. But what I realized in retrospect is that the rationalization of significant character flaws is never acceptable.”

In regard to Biden, Christie has concerns about his age. He said that if the current president would have stepped down from a second term to make room for another 2024 Democratic Party nominee to win the 2024 election, Biden would have been acknowledged as one of the noblest presidents in the country’s history, second only to George Washington who voluntarily resigned after his second term.

“If I were Joe Biden's son, I would put my arm around him and say, ‘Dad, you did an amazing thing stopping Donald Trump from getting a second term, and the country will always be in your debt for doing that, but it is time to go home,’” he said.

“And I think the American people would've carried him out of the White House on their shoulders. And I think he's missing an enormous opportunity, missed, it's done now.”

With what he views as unfavorable frontrunners for Republican and Democratic parties, Christie offered a potential solution:

“Third parties are likely to play a role in this race…. It's probably going to be very close, because we're a very polarized country right to the end,” he said.

“All I'd say about third party stuff is, do I think it's likely a third party candidate could be elected president? No, I don't think it's likely. Do I think it is possible? I think in this environment, anything's possible. But I would end that answer with this: You get what you deserve.”

Christie was blunt about the reality of America's election process: “In America, we don't always get to vote for what we want to vote for. We get to vote for who's left.”