Christie: If You Can’t Handle The Debates, Then Don’t Run For Prez

Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Saturday morning chided his fellow Republican presidential candidates who are complaining about the CNBC debate and pushing for format changes going forward.

The moderators didn’t control the debate. They did an awful job. Their bias was showing, and it was despicable,” he said on “Fox and Friends.” “Now, that being said, if you’re running for President of the United States and you can’t handle yourself against three CNBC moderators without, you know, crying foul and calling for intervention, then you’re not gonna do very well against Vladimir Putin either. So I’m not going to complain about it.”

“If you can’t handle yourself on that debate stage, you have no business running for president of the United States,” Christie added.

The CNBC Republican presidential debate on Wednesday sparked outrage in the GOP, leading candidates to plan a Sunday meeting to discuss grievances and proposals for future debates. And the Republican National Committee suspended its partnership with NBC News for a February debate citing concerns over the CNBC moderators’ questions and tone.

Watch Christie on “Fox and Friends”:

H/t Mediaite

Latest Livewire
52
Show Comments

Notable Replies

  1. It feels dirty saying this: for once, I agree with Christie about something.

  2. Me too, except for the “their bias was showing” comment.

    He’s a dumb as the rest of them in that respect.

  3. Well, that’s what the CNBC panel should have said to them.

  4. Putin, Putin, Putin. Why don’t these asshats just debate Putin?

  5. So, they can’t debate each other, attack each other. They want their candidates to be united.

    I guess they’re all going to run for co-President?

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

46 more replies

Participants

Avatar for daveminnj Avatar for mmurdoch Avatar for kwoodgr Avatar for winstonsmith Avatar for impurescience Avatar for inlabsitrust Avatar for inversion Avatar for dont Avatar for whiteb Avatar for sonsofares Avatar for normankelley Avatar for jkrogman Avatar for gr Avatar for obsessed Avatar for jafafahots Avatar for fiftygigs Avatar for darrtown Avatar for zlohcuc Avatar for pshah Avatar for mainemomma Avatar for meta Avatar for dommyluc Avatar for antisachetdethe Avatar for babyjocko

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