Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie joined me this morning:

Audio:

08-10hhs-christie

Transcript:

HH: Robbie Robertson is dead at the age of 80. Of course, this song covered by Bruce Springsteen. My guest, Governor Chris Christie, former governor of New Jersey, loves Bruce. I don’t know if you’re a fan of The Band. Are you, Governor?

CC: Absolutely.

HH: So would you prefer hearing Springsteen sing this or The Band?

CC: Always Springsteen.

HH: All right. Governor, welcome back. Good to have you. I have asked Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis, and Doug Burgum this question. I’m going to ask all the candidates this. Senator Tuberville is upset that the Pentagon and Joe Biden have violated the Hyde Amendment. And so Senator Tuberville has put a hold on 300 military promotions. Now that affects, according to Admiral Stavridis, more than 10,000 people and the entire ladder of promotions, their families, et cetera. What do you make of Senator Tuberville’s tactics?

CC: I don’t think it’s the right one. I share his concern about the Biden administration’s disregard of the Hyde Amendment. But I don’t believe the best way to do it is to impact our military readiness. Now some will say it’s Joe Biden’s fault, and he shares the fault for that. But quite frankly, Senator Tuberville is the guy who is making these calls and holding up these promotions, and I just don’t believe it’s the right tactic.

HH: Now that puts you in the camp with Nikki Haley, but Governor DeSantis and Governor Burgum both say yes, use any tactic you can. What would you tell to them? And what would you

CC: Look, what I’d say to the Senator is let’s work together to try to change this policy. It’s obvious that his current approach to it, which has been going on for weeks now, isn’t…in any way at all. So let’s look for a more effective way to do it. And what I would say to him is I empathize with what he’s trying to accomplish, and I support it. But I don’t believe doing it by impacting our military at all is the right way to go about it.

HH: Now Governor, last week, 11 Chinese and Russian ships sailed down past the Aleutians. If you were president, how would you respond to that?

CC: Well, Hugh, this partially goes to our readiness, right? You know, you and I have had this conversation before. We are not ready with the number of ships we need. We are not ready with the number of submarines we need. And I think a lot of this would not be going on if we had the readiness level that we should have, and that I will push forward when I’m president. But what we would do is to make sure that they understand we have a significant presence there, that we’re keeping an eye on them, and we will be ready during the first term of the Christie presidency to deter that type of conduct.

HH: Now Governor, I saw you on Bret Baier last night, and you are now tied for second in New Hampshire with Governor DeSantis. Obviously, President Trump has noticed, because he took a hard shot at you about your weight this weekend. How do you respond to that?

CC: He’s a child, Hugh. A child. This is the kind of stuff that goes on in a schoolyard with 4th graders. But that’s what we can come to expect from Donald Trump. And that’s why I don’t even know why real smart folks like you, you know, take him seriously. His conduct is reprehensible on any number of levels, both while he was president, and most particularly in the time after he’s left the presidency. So I don’t care what he thinks about the way I look, quite frankly, and what I’d suggest to him is that they install, although I know it’s impossible, maybe they couldn’t, a few more mirrors, but not the magic kind, at Mar-A-Lago and Bedminster so he could see what he looks like.

HH: Let me talk to you about the Trump indictment most recently brought by Jack Smith. David Rivkin and Lee Casey wrote in the Wall Street Journal very similar to what I wrote in the Washington Post. I think this is much bigger than Donald Trump. I think this is a threat to the presidency. What do you make of the most recent federal indictment?

CC: I think it’s aggressive, Hugh. I think it’s an aggressive indictment. And I think it’s one that you ought to take a lot of time thinking about before you brought it. But I also believe that we’re, that candidly, you’re focusing on the wrong thing. For the purposes of this race, the focus needs to be on Donald Trump’s conduct. And Donald Trump’s conduct is what’s brought all of this on. All of this has been brought on by that. And we have legal analysts, and certainly with my legal analyst hat, I’d be happy to break down the indictment and where I think it’s strong and where I think it’s weak. But it’s missing the point. And this is why Donald Trump wants you to be focusing on that, because the more you focus on that, the less you focus on the fact that he called these folks to Washington and said that the trip, that it was going to be wild. He’s the one who stood up there and lied to them and told them the election was stolen. He’s the one who stood up there and lied to them and told them Mike Pence could reverse the election results when we know that he could not. He’s the one who told them to march to Capitol Hill and he would march with them. And you and I both know if Donald Trump is at risk for losing a fingernail, he wasn’t going to go up there, and he didn’t. And then he sat in his dining room and watched them lay waste to parts of the United States Capitol and did absolutely nothing about it. That’s what we should be focused on, Hugh.

HH: Now Governor, I think, I am in Switzerland, so I want to ask this on behalf of the audience, a lot of people who will not be voting for Trump are still appalled by Jack Smith. And they are appalled by the idea of Donald Trump getting a fair trial in the District of Columbia, which I don’t think is possible. You’ve been a United States Attorney. Did you ever lose a Rule 21 motion to transfer a trial because of a prejudiced jury pool?

CC: I lost a motion to change the venue of a trial. It was not based on prejudiced jury. It was based upon convenience to the defendant. And I lost that motion. I think it was more because the judge at the time saw a very complicated fraud case, and wanted to dish it off to the district of Connecticut. But that’s the only time in my time as U.S. Attorney that I lost one of those motions, and it was based upon convenience to the defendant.

HH: Now the District of Columbia voted for Joe Biden 92%-plus to Donald Trump’s 5%-plus. The jury pool is small. They’ve got other trials going on, and it’s overwhelmingly the heart of Trump Derangement Syndrome. It beats there. Would you support a motion, do you think a motion to move that trial is well-brought?

CC: Not based on what you just talked about, Hugh. I don’t. And look, and Donald Trump won the state of Florida, and won it pretty handily, and he has a trial now in the southern district of Florida. And while the numbers are not as stark as the numbers that you just talked about, is that really the way we’re going to start to determine venue in this country, Hugh? We’re going to start…

HH: Well, Governor, you know it’s for the benefit of the defendant. The rules of criminal procedure are not to benefit prosecutors. They’re to benefit defendants. And I don’t think he can get a fair trial in D.C. Do you?

CC: Look, you know what, Hugh? I believe you can get a fair trial anywhere you’re venued in this country. I absolutely do. And the fact is that if we’re going to start determining venue by where we think is the most advantageous place for the defendant, then we’re going to have a whole bunch of different rules of criminal procedure that are going to be operating. The fact is that the conduct happened in the District of Columbia. And if he had brought it someplace else, these same people would be complaining that you know, he should have brought it in the place where the conduct actually happened.

HH: We’ve never tried a former president, though, Governor, I just think it’s an unusual situation, and if you want to persuade the country that he’s getting a fair trial, and I think that is what matters most is protecting the reputation of the justice system, you move the trial. But you think what you think, and I want to move on. I’m not arguing with you. Any chance you’re going to pull a Ronald Reagan in 1976 and name a vice presidential candidate before the convention, before everything is over?

CC: No.

HH: Are you going to name a list of Supreme Court nominees that you will consider as the former President did in 2016?

CC: I don’t think that I need to do something like that. Donald Trump needed to prove that he was a real conservative, given that he had contributed to Hillary Clinton and Chuck Schumer, and a number of other Democrats. That’s why he did it, because rightfully, conservatives were suspicious of both his knowledge of our judicial system, given his demonstrated ignorance of it, and his lack of credentials as a conservative. I have neither, so I won’t be naming folks beforehand. But what I would tell you is the kind of folks that I would be looking for to appoint to the Supreme Court would be very much in the mold of both Sam Alito and Antonin Scalia.

Did you approve of Justice Alito’s op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, or the interview with the Wall Street Journal?

CC: Yes, I did. Justice Alito, this is what I love about Justice Alito. He’s not going to sit there and be a heavy bag for biased media outlets like ProPublica and others to beat on him. And he’s going to come back and defend himself. And I absolutely approved of what Justice Alito did and support the fact that he’s going to stand up for his ethics and his integrity. I’ve known Sam Alito now for over 25 years. And we couldn’t have a better justice on the Supreme Court from the perspective of objectivity and ethics than Sam Alito.

HH: I agree with his opinion that the United States Congress has no jurisdiction over the conduct of Supreme Court justices. They can regulate the number of justices. They can change the appeals that are eligible to go up, but they may not impose a code of ethics. Do you agree with me, or do you agree with Sheldon Whitehouse?

CC: I agree with you.

HH: But do you think it’s even close?

CC: I don’t think it’s even close, no.

HH: I’m glad to hear that. Let me go back to Donald Trump. You came up with the line that when the August 23rd debate occurs, he’ll be out on bail from four jurisdictions. It’s a pretty good line. But which is the charge that most threatens his freedom?

CC: Well, we haven’t seen if there’s a fourth one, yet, so let’s talk about the three that we have already. And the three that we have already, the one that most jeopardizes his freedom, I believe, is the classified documents/obstruction of justice case.

HH: I agree with that. The obstruction of justice, not actually the documents. We haven’t seen those, but the fact that a subpoena arrived, and it appears, at least they are alleging he did not honor a subpoena. Is that cut and dried, in your view?

CC: Yes.

HH: If it occurred?

CC: Absolutely.

HH: All right.

CC: If it is as alleged, then it’s going to be, it’s going to be a very, very difficult case for him to get out of, because we also have, apparently, a videotape of them moving these boxes. And we have the notes of his own lawyer who has said that they kept certain documents from him when he was making a certification, at Donald Trump’s behest, that all of the documents have been dutifully searched, and the ones who applied turned over.

HH: Did you bring obstruction charges as a U.S. Attorney against anyone?

CC: Yes, absolutely.

HH: What do you get, what kind of sentence does that lead to?

CC: You know, it’s a long time now, Hugh, for me to remember, but I believe it’s in somewhere in the 18 to 24-month range.

HH: And can he campaign for president without peril to his legal case?

CC: Given the way he operates? I don’t think he can. I think he will continue to imperil himself. But by the way, Hugh, he imperils himself every time he opens his mouth.

HH: I’m going to try and keep Governor Christie. He’s going to Logan Airport, I think, so I don’t know if I’m going to keep him or not, but we’ll find out. Stay tuned, America.

— – – – –

HH: I’m back now with former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who’s rising in the polls. Governor, how often are you in New Hampshire?

CC: Well, I’m just finishing a two-day trip here. The last time I was here was about two weeks ago, and I’ll be back in New Hampshire the next time after the debate on August 23rd.

HH: Are you competing in Iowa? Or are you focusing everything on the Granite State?

CC: I’m competing in New Hampshire. I’m competing in South Carolina as well. And that’s where I’m spending the bulk of my time are in those two states.

HH: Now Governor, you did PodSaveAmerica. And I’ve got nothing against those guys. They’re wrong about everything, and I get under their skin, but I don’t mind you doing PodSaveAmerica. Why did you do it, though?

CC: Because I want to show those folks our arguments. You know, the problem with America right now in one respect, Hugh, is that we all stay in our own silos. You know, liberals won’t come on Hugh Hewitt or Guy Benson or other shows that I think would treat them very fairly. And it would allow conservatives to hear what the liberal arguments are. And on the other hand, with folks like PodSaveAmerica and others, I want them to be exposed, those listeners, to what the arguments are by conservatives like myself. And that’s why I go on those shows. I went on Kara Swisher as well. I go on those places, because I want those folks to hear our arguments. I’m not ready to give up on the fact that Americans can’t listen to other Americans they disagree with. We need to stop having negotiable truth, Hugh. And what we need to start doing is…

HH: Why, then, not go on Mark Levin’s show or Tucker Carlson’s show. Now Mark has been calling me a RINO recently. He’s been my friend since the Meese years at Justice, but I’m a RINO now because I like Mitch McConnell. That’s okay. I would still welcome Mark on. Why don’t you do Mark and Tucker’s show?

CC: Well, first of all, I don’t even know what show Tucker has anymore.

HH: He’s on Twitter.

CC: Yeah, well, you know, Hugh, I’m not, I’m not anxious to go and do a show that’s platform is on Twitter. And so I go to places that have real ratings and real listeners like yours here. And you know, I’m not saying that I’ll never go on any of those places, but I’m prioritizing where I want to go. And by the way, I’ve never been on…

HH: Now Mark Levin may have the most…

CC: I’ve never been on Mark Levin’s show in my entire career, Hugh.

HH: I know that. But he’s probably got the most influential show for conservatives on Fox on Sunday night, and he’s got syndication across the United States. And he’s a smart lawyer. Is there something that holds you back?

CC: Would you, are you now my booking agent, Hugh?

HH: I am. I’m trying to. I want you here weekly, by the way.

CC: No, look, I’m happy to come on Hugh Hewitt whenever you’d like me to come. If you’re booking for Mark Levin now, I have a little less respect for you.

HH: Well, I just want to know what, you can handle anything. I really think that. Why not Mark?

CC: I can handle anything. It’s not that I can’t handle Mark. I don’t choose to, and I haven’t chose to my entire campaign. Not only this time, but going ball the way back to 2009 against Jon Corzine. We all get to make choices. I’ve gone almost everywhere, and you’re not emphasizing the one place I haven’t gone. I’ve been on everything from Jimmy Fallon, David Letterman, to every show on Fox News that you can think of, to MSNBC and CNN, and PodSaveAmerica. Yet you and I are spending time this morning talking about the one place I haven’t been over the last few years.

HH: Because it’s a poker tell to some conservative voters that I think you need, Governor, to win if you’re the nominee in the fall of 2024.

CC: Well, if you think it’s a poker tell, then you’re wrong, because I didn’t do this in 2009. I didn’t do it in 2013, in 2016, or now during these years as well. And if that’s a determining factor in who’s the Republican nominee for president going to be, I don’t agree with that evaluation.

HH: Well, I’ll ask it one more time. Why? Not that you did it. That’s a fact. The question is why not?

CC: I choose, I choose not to.

HH: Okay. We’re coming back from break. Don’t go anywhere, Governor. We’re going to go back to Ron DeSantis after this. Stay tuned, America.

— – – – –

HH: I talked to him during the break. I’ll play that next hour. Governor, Washington Post, Kate Selig story from August 8th. The future of East Coast wind power could ride on this Jersey beach town. Ocean City in Cape May County, this is the future of wind power. What do you think of those projects? And what do you think of the idea that wind power is our answer for the future?

CC: You know, I think our answer for the future is all of the above, and have said that from the time I became governor in New Jersey. We built gas pipelines when I was governor. We built and enhanced our nuclear capability when I was governor. And we increased solar when I was governor. We did not increased wind when I was governor, but we increased these other places. I don’t have any objection to the idea of wind being part of an overall portfolio, Hugh, but you’ve got to take everything else into consideration. And right now, what I think we should be focused on in this country is what Brian Kemp just accomplished in Georgia, which was to build the first nuclear plant in decades in this country. In New Jersey, Hugh, I don’t know if you know this, but in the most densely populated state in America, 53% of our electricity comes from nuclear. If you can do it safely in the most densely populated state in America, you can do it safely anyplace in America. And I would be focusing on making sure that we develop and enhance more nuclear power.

HH: Amen to that. But I also want to talk about New Jersey, because last time I texted with you, I was at Newark Airport overnight. What the heck is wrong with that airport, Governor?

CC: Two words – Pete Buttigieg. Look, the reason why things are not going well at Newark Airport or JFK or LaGuardia, the most crowded airspace in America, is because we don’t have enough air traffic controllers. And that is a failure of the FAA under the supervision of Pete Buttigieg. This is what happens when you put a small-time mayor in charge of Transportation in the biggest, most traveling country in the world. He is a complete failure. He should be fired by Joe Biden. The air travel this summer alone, and there’s more reasons to fire Pete Buttigieg, but the failure of our air traffic system this summer, which you experienced personally at Newark, I’ve experience it with enormous delays and cancellations at Newark and at LaGuardia as well, is the failure of the FAA’s management of and recruitment of air traffic controllers.

HH: Governor, are you telling me you don’t take private planes? Because I think part of the problem is the one-tenth of one percent in America that runs the country and are the wealthiest people don’t fly commercial anymore.

CC: I do not take private planes, Hugh. In fact, I am sitting outside Logan Airport right now waiting and praying that I’ll be on a United flight that will land in Newark today.

HH: Oh, you know what, Governor? Never fly United. Let me go back to Ron DeSantis. You brought him up with Bret Baier last night. He suspended an elected district attorney, the second time he’s done this, for failure to prosecute according to what he believes is the rule of law. Do you applaud that, or do you criticize that?

CC: I don’t know enough about it to either applaud or criticize it, because I don’t know her record. But what I would say is that I think Governor DeSantis spends a great deal of time on things in this presidential campaign which I don’t think are the most important issues in America. And you know, I think crime is a very important issue. If he has a basis to be able to do what he did, in fact, in terms of the way she’s prosecuting, and he has the authority to do that as governor, then I wouldn’t question his judgment. But I’d have to see the facts on it, Hugh, and I haven’t, yet, about what’s going on in, I guess, the 9th district in Florida down in Orlando. But he certainly has the authority to do it, and I’d say this. I wish Kathy Hochul would do the same thing in Manhattan, spending as much time as I do in Manhattan, I know that Alvin Bragg is a failure and is not keeping the island of Manhattan safe. I wish Kathy Hochul would do the same thing in Manhattan that Ron DeSantis did in Florida.

HH: The mayor of New York City asked for $12 billion dollars for illegal immigrants, because his homeless shelters are overridden. Put aside the irony. Should the money go to him?

CC: It’s hard to put aside the irony, though, isn’t it, Hugh?

HH: It’s impossible, really.

CC: That Mayor Adams, that Mayor Adams, you know, declared during his campaign that this would be a sanctuary city. I love all these mayors and governors, my own governor in New Jersey, the same declaring sanctuary cities or sanctuary states, and now when people actually show up, they complain about it. What did they think was going to happen? And they thought it was going to be an absolutely empty gesture that they could gain some political favor out of. Now, when the chickens are coming home to roost, they want everybody else to pay the price tag. I think that Mayor Adams made a big mistake in saying that he should be a sanctuary city would maintain that after Mayor de Blasio, the worst mayor in my lifetime in New York did it. So it’s hard for me to put aside the irony of it when these folks have all asked for it, and now want everybody else to pay for it.

HH: One more question, Governor. You know, you’re not in a hurry if you’re on United. It’s going to be delayed if it goes at all. But if the debate comes off, Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum are the equal of anyone in the United States when it comes to asking questions. They put our their rules – one minute answers, 30 second responses. I don’t think there’s a right of reply. Do you like the rule set?

CC: I like it, especially given that we have probably no more than 7 or 8 people who will be on the stage. I would like for all of those things to be a little bit longer, and to have the opportunity to reply. But Hugh, you know me. I’ll play by whatever rules they set, and we’ll do very well.

HH: I look forward to talking to you next week if you make your flight. Again, Governor, don’t fly United. Have a great trip. I’ll talk to you soon. Thank you for joining me on today’s Hugh Hewitt Show.

CC: Thank you, Hugh.

End of interview.