MSNBC host Joe Scarborough said Monday that he believes New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) has become a “distraction” for the Republican Governor’s Association.
“I like Chris. I trust Chris,” Scarborough said on “Morning Joe.” “I still take him at his word. But I’m always blunt, and the fact is right now he’s a distraction to the RGA.”
Fellow Republicans were reluctant to roll out the welcoming mat for Christie on his recent RGA fundraising swing. Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) and Attorney General Greg Abbott, the likely Republican nominee to succeed Perry, stayed away from Christie’s events Thursday in the Lone Star State. Illinois gubernatorial hopefuls also plan to avoid Christie’s fundraisers scheduled for Tuesday in Chicago.
“If Republicans’ job is electing governors, and you got a guy running the RGA that has Republican candidates running away from him, that’s a serious problem,” Scarborough said. “He needs to sit down and do some soul-searching and see whether he wants to defend charges against him or continue this. I don’t think he can do both.”
The editorial board of New Jersey’s biggest newspaper, the Newark Star-Ledger, wrote last month that Christie should step down from his post as chairman of the RGA to focus on issues facing the state. His administration was being investigated for both allegedly directing lane closures on the George Washington Bridge and withholding Hurricane Sandy relief funds from the mayor of Hoboken, N.J. unless she fast-tracked a redevelopment project.
h/t Politico
