New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday broke his silence on President Donald Trump’s immigration executive order, saying he thinks Trump’s advisors bungled the rollout.
Christie told reporters he doesn’t disagree with the motivation of the order, according to the Associated Press. He did say that the order was explained “unartfully” and that Trump had been poorly served by his advisers.
“[T]he roll-out of this executive order was terrible,” Christie told reporters, as quoted by the AP. “The way people were not involved or consulted, there was confusion in the enforcement that went on here.”
The New Jersey governor also said he believed green card holders already go through “extreme vetting,” according to a transcript posted by statehouse reporter Michael Symons.
Christie further cautioned Trump’s inner circle against formulating national security policy based on “generalizations.”
“Look, my view would be that this should be based upon intelligence that we gather about particular groups and countries,” he said, according to the transcript. “And the President deserved much better than the roll-out that he got of this plan. I think that’s what caused a lot of the mistakes that were made. And those mistakes are unacceptable.”
Trump’s executive order temporarily suspended the United States’ refugee program and indefinitely barred refugees from Syria. It also temporarily suspended immigration from seven Muslim-majority countries.
