Chris Christie: I’d Give Trump A ‘B’ On His First 100 Days (VIDEO)

Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., and his wife Mary Pat Christie look on as President Donald Trump signs House Joint Resolution 41 in the Oval Office of the White House, Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
FILE- In this Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017, file photo, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and his wife Mary Pat Christie watch as President Donald Trump signs House Joint Resolution 41 in the Oval Office of the White House in... FILE- In this Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017, file photo, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and his wife Mary Pat Christie watch as President Donald Trump signs House Joint Resolution 41 in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. The state Chamber of Commerce’s 80th annual trip, nicknamed the “Walk to Washington” because rail riders generally pace the train’s corridors schmoozing and handing out business cards, on Thursday, Feb. 16, comes after a national election that hinged in part on repudiating insiders and establishment politics. Christie is set to deliver the keynote address to the gathering. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said Tuesday that he would give President Donald Trump’s administration a “B” grade for its first 100 days in office.

“A ‘B’?” CNN’s Jake Tapper responded, surprised, during an interview Tuesday.

“The reason I’d give him a B, first and foremost, is because of Neil Gorsuch,” Christie explained, adding of Trump that “some of things he’s done by executive action have been very good on the regulatory side, and I can see, even in New Jersey, that businesses are responding really well.”

But, Christie hedged, “with some of the implementation, and some of the ways that his staff has served him has not been extraordinarily good, and I think they’ve got to get their act together in that regard and serve the President better.”

Given his position as a confidant of the president, Christie’s critiques hold some weight. In late January, the New Jersey governor criticized the implementation of the President’s first travel ban on seven Muslim-majority countries, which also suspended the United States’ refugee program. “The roll-out of this executive order was terrible,” he said.

On Tuesday, Christie added Republicans’ bungled health care effort to the list.

“I don’t think the way the whole health care situation was handled either on the hill or at the White House was exemplary,” he said. “We didn’t get the result that we needed to get. Now, I know they’re going back at it again. I wish them the best of luck at it, to try to get something that will be able to pass the House and Senate and get to the president’s desk.”

“But, you know, I’ve been a governor seven and a half years,” he continued. “You rely upon your staff to be able to tee the ball up and make sure that when you swing, you hit the ball and you hit the ball far.”

During the presidential campaign, Trump staked many of his promises on a hundred-day pledge. Now, however, he is sending mixed messages on the benchmark, alternatively calling it a “ridiculous standard” and launching a web page on WhiteHouse.gov listing his accomplishments during that time.

Christie said of the benchmark that, “no matter whether you think it’s real or artificial, it is a historical marker.”

“People start to judge you,” he said, referring to the hundred-day mark.

Watch below via CNN:

Latest Livewire
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: