New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) once again ripped the decision to draw out the GOP’s presidential nomination process, telling conservative columnist George Will in an interview published Wednesday that it was the “stupidest thing the Republican Party ever did.”
It isn’t the first time Christie has had harsh words for the party’s decision to spread out its major contests, a system established under former Republican Nationall Committee chairman Michael Steele that led to a protracted 2012 nomination contest that lasted deep into the spring before Mitt Romney finally secured enough delegates.
“You wind up with a good candidate who’s damaged,” Christie told Will.
Last February, as Romney was still staving off the likes of Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich, Christie called the party’s rejiggering of the primary calendar “the dumbest idea anyone ever had.” The change was made, in part, to provide a more balanced distribution of influence to states in the nominating process.
