New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said on Sunday that he doesn’t remember reports of New Jersey residents cheering after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks when asked about claims made by Donald Trump over the weekend.
“I don’t recall that. I don’t,” Christie told reporters in New Hampshire on Sunday, according to NJ Advance Media.
Trump said on Sunday morning that people cheered in New Jersey on the day of the attack.
“There were people that were cheering on the other side of New Jersey where you have large Arab populations. They were cheering as the World Trade Center came down,” he told ABC News. “I know it might be not politically correct for you to talk about it, but there were people cheering as that building came down, as those buildings came down, and that tells you something. It was well covered at the time.”
Christie told reporters on Sunday that he was distracted on 9/11 since he was worried about family and friends.
“It was a pretty emotional time for me because, as I’ve mentioned before, there’s family involved, there were, you know, friends involved and so it was a pretty harrowing time,” he said, according to NJ Advance Media. “I do not remember that, and so it’s not something that was part of my recollection. I think if it had happened, I would remember it, but, you know, there could be things I forget, too.”
The Democratic Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop blasted Trump’s remarks on Sunday.
Clearly @realDonaldTrump comment is absurd on #JerseyCity . good thing is his campaign 100% leads to dem pres https://t.co/zZ63xMgub2
— Steven Fulop (@StevenFulop) November 22, 2015
Either @realDonaldTrump has memory issues or willfully distorts the truth, either of which should be concerning for the Republican Party
— Steven Fulop (@StevenFulop) November 22, 2015
There were rumors about people cheering in New Jersey following the attack, but local police discounted the reports, according to ABC News.
