New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said Wednesday that part of the reason he declined a role in Donald Trump’s administration was his wife’s refusal to move to Washington, D.C.
“He didn’t offer me a job that I thought was exciting enough for me to leave the governorship, and my family,” Christie told the hosts of the Boomer and Carton radio show. “Because Mary Pat made really clear she wasn’t coming to D.C.”
“You would have had to given at least a two-year commitment to be there,” co-host Craig Carton noted,
“Correct,” Christie said.
The New Jersey governor was one of the first failed 2016 Republican candidates to endorse Trump, fueling speculation that he would be given a post in Trump’s Cabinet once the real estate mogul was elected.
In December, NJ Advance Media reported that Trump offered Christie a number of roles including Homeland Security secretary, Veterans Affairs secretary, and even U.S. ambassador to Italy. Christie was not, however, offered either of the two positions he hoped to receive: U.S. attorney general and Republican National Committee chairman.
As a result, he elected to stay in New Jersey and finish out his term as governor, which ends in January 2018. Christie currently has historically low job approval ratings in the Garden State, with 77 percent of respondents to a December Quinnipiac poll saying they disapproved of his performance as governor.
Politico reported last week that Christie is holding out hope that some of Trump’s appointees, many of whom lack government experience, will end up being fired or stepping down in the next year or two. The President-elect nodded at this longer-term plan to work with Christie in a Friday interview with the Wall Street Journal
“At some point we’re going to do something with Chris,” Trump said.
