Fact-checking Chris Christie’s claims during the CNN town hall in New York
From CNN staff
During a CNN town hall on Monday, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie – who lost to former President Donald Trump in the 2016 Republican primary before supporting him later that year and again in 2020 – didn’t spread nearly as many falsehoods as the 2024 GOP front-runner.
But Christie made his own claims that, at least partially, strayed from or omitted the truth.
Here is a fact check of some remarks Christie made during the town hall:
Russian collusion: Christie spoke about Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and the topic of Russian collusion.
“I was involved in that campaign in 2016 with Donald Trump,” Christie said. “Let me tell you something. I can guarantee you there was no colluding going on. They were trying to figure out how to get from New York to Wisconsin. …Colluding with the Russians was the last thing they were thinking about.”
Facts First: Christie only told half the story. It’s true that special counsel Robert Mueller never accused any Trump campaign associates of conspiring with Russian officials. But Mueller found dozens of secret contacts between Trump aides and Russian agents, several attempts to coordinate, and that Trump’s team was “receptive” to some offers.
From CNN’s Marshall Cohen
Bridgegate: Christie claimed that he was not involved in and had “no knowledge of” the Bridgegate scandal that marked his second term as governor, and ultimately resulted in the conviction of two of his former aides.
Facts First: This needs context. While Christie was never charged by federal prosecutors, prosecutors alleged and two of Christie’s former aides testified he knew about the plan to close lanes on the George Washington Bridge in 2013 – an alleged form of retaliation against a Democratic mayor who didn’t support Christie in his previous gubernatorial race.
From CNN’s Ella Nilsen
Deficit under Trump: Christie blasted Trump for his lack of fiscal control when he was in office, even though Christie said Trump had promised he would balance the budget in four years.
“We [were] left with one of the biggest deficits any president’s ever had,” Christie said.
From CNN’s Tami Luhby
Read more fact checks here.
Chris Christie slammed Trump while making a case for his own candidacy. Here are some key takeaways
From CNN's Eric Bradner and Gregory Krieg
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie laid into Donald Trump in a CNN town hall Monday night, calling the former president “angry” and “vengeful” and accusing him of “vanity run amok” within the event’s opening minutes.
His comments set the tone for the night and made clear that Christie – who leaned into his own record as a former federal prosecutor – sees his role in the 2024 Republican presidential primary as being the chief critic of Trump, willing to take on the front-runner while most other contenders duck confrontation.
He also made a case for his own candidacy, pointing to his past experience and laying out his stance on a variety of issues from abortion, to the southern border and the war in Ukraine.
Here are some of the key takeaways:
The indictment of Donald Trump: Christie began the town hall by slamming Trump for the alleged behavior spelled out in the federal indictment against the former president. He said the “nature of the documents” that Trump is accused of unlawfully retaining after leaving office was particularly damning. That trove is believed to include plans for war with Iran, details about US nuclear weapons and daily security briefings from his time in office.
After that, Christie pointed to the implication in the indictment that Trump lied and tried to involve his personal lawyer, who eventually ended up being made to turn over documents to prosecutors. He said the simple fact that Trump is “voluntarily putting our country through this."
“This is all (Trump) saying … ‘I’m more important than the country,'" he said.
Selling his own candidacy: Christie – who made his name nationally through force of personality during his near-decade leading New Jersey – spun through some of his accomplishments in dealing with Democratic legislative leaders in the heavily Democratic state, including lowering property taxes and backing charter schools.
Christie also pushed back on an audience member’s concern that he would be too willing to compromise with Democrats, saying he’s ready now to go to Washington and “make it work for Republican values in the right way.”
Russia's war in Ukraine: Christie defended US support for Ukraine’s military in that country’s conflict with Russia, describing it as “a proxy war with China” and pointing out that Beijing is buying Russian oil and supplying Iran with drones.
He said that while US involvement in the war is unpleasant, “the alternative is for the Chinese to take over, the Russians, the Iranians and the North Koreans – a bad foursome.”
The US southern border: The former governor said that he would send the National Guard to the US-Mexico border to deal with issues involving large influxes of migrants. He criticized former President Donald Trump's border policy and said his inability to pass immigration reform despite having a Republican-controlled Congress for two years was an "abject failure."
"He took temporary steps, but the minute he left office, someone else could change. You know what that is? A bad executive," he said.
Abortion: Christie said he believes each state should decide its own abortion laws.
On the federal government's role in the abortion issue, he said that he believes "Roe was unconstitutional," which he said conservatives have been arguing for 50 years. He said that the federal government should "not be involved unless — and until — there's consensus around the country" from all the states on what the abortion law should be.
In pictures: CNN's town hall with Chris Christie
From CNN's Laura Oliverio and Bernadette Tuazon
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie took the stage on Monday night for a CNN town hall in New York.
He rebuked his 2024 GOP rival Donald Trump, calling the former president “angry” and “vengeful” and accusing him of “vanity run amok."
See photos from the evening hosted by CNN's Anderson Cooper:
Analysis: Chris Christie is seizing on federal indictment to make the case against Trump, Elie Honig says
GOP presidential candidate Christ Christie seized on the federal indictment of Donald Trump to make the case against the former president during Monday's town hall, said Elie Honig, former assistant US attorney.
Christie is also making the broader case that he's the only one who sees the Trump indictment clearly, Honig told CNN's Jake Tapper.
"You see so many other Republicans equivocating, let's wait and see. Well, Chris Christie just reads this indictment and reacts like many of us do — 'This is really damning,'" he said.
Christie says he'll unify the country by getting rid of Biden and Trump: "It's done. It's time"
Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie said the "single biggest thing" he could contribute to unify the country is to "get rid of Joe Biden and get rid of Donald Trump."
"They are past their sell-by dates, okay? It's done. It's time," he said.
Christie criticized Biden and Trump for bringing what he called "an old approach to this that is not constructive in our country." He said that in 2020 Biden vowed to "bring us together" as a country and "then he ran far left and abandoned most of the country philosophically."
He said that if Biden gets a second term, what "he'll do is keep doing what he's doing, which is dividing the country even more than we were divided in 2020."
Christie said his approach to unifying is "very direct and very simple, that there is no bad opinion."
"You want to express your opinion in this country, express it. I want to hear it. And then everybody gets around the table and resolves our issues one at a time. The same way we used to do at dinner parties before the last eight or ten years," the former governor said.
Christie says it's important to discuss reforming Social Security to avoid cutting retirees' benefits
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said it's important to talk about ways to reform the Social Security system, including means testing potential recipients, so as to avoid cutting retirees' benefits.
Christie, speaking at a CNN town hall Monday night, said there was a potential benefit to changing the retirement age for younger Americans, a position he shares with GOP opponents, former Gov. Nikki Haley and former Vice President Mike Pence.
"You don't change the retirement age for somebody my age, right? I'm 60, so I'm within eyeshot of that. So, you don't change it for them. But you can do a lot of of good by changing it for people at a younger age," Christie said.
"What I'd want to do is sit down with the actuaries and say at each different age point that we would change the retirement age, how much would it save us? And look at that and have a real conversation about it. I mean, look, if you've got 20 or 30 years to plan for it, that should be enough to get yourself ready. If you only have four or five years, that's not fair to do," he added.
Some background: The combined Social Security trust funds are projected to run dry in 2034, according to the latest annual report from the entitlement program’s trustees. At that time, the funds’ reserves will be depleted, and the program’s continuing income will only cover 80% of benefits owed.
Christie says he'd send the National Guard to the US southern border and slams Trump's immigration policy
GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie said that he would send the National Guard to the US-Mexico border to deal with issues involving large influxes of migrants.
"No matter how hard our Customs and Border patrol agents and our immigration and customs enforcement agents are working, they need backup," Christie said during Monday's CNN town hall.
"We need to secure that border," he added, also criticizing former President Donald Trump's border policy.
"This is where President Trump has failed us so badly. I mean I stood on that stage eight years ago and heard him say, 'I'm going to build a big beautiful wall across the entire border and Mexico's going to pay for it.' Well four years later, we got a quarter of a wall and not one peso towards that," he said.
He also said how Trump was unable to pass immigration reform despite having a Republican-controlled Congress for two years. "It is an abject failure, and now he blames Joe Biden for it. Well, what the heck did you do to make it better?"
"He took temporary steps, but the minute he left office, someone else could change. You know what that is? A bad executive," he said.
Christie said that he would be able to pass immigration legislation and not temporary solutions if elected president.
Christie calls Russia-Ukraine conflict a "proxy war with China"
From CNN's Eric Bradner and Gregory Krieg
GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie defended US support for Ukraine’s military in that country’s conflict with Russia, describing it as “a proxy war with China” and pointing out that Beijing is buying Russian oil and supplying Iran with drones.
He said that while US involvement in the war is unpleasant, “the alternative is for the Chinese to take over, the Russians, the Iranians and the North Koreans – a bad foursome.”
“For your children and my grandchildren, are they going to live in a world where China is setting the tone for this world? A communist dictatorship where they tell you how many children you can have? Where they tell you what you can think, what you can see and what you can hear? I don’t want that kind of world for your kids, and I don’t want it for my grandchildren,” the former governor said in CNN's town hall.
Christie’s comments came in response to a question about US spending on Ukraine’s war effort at a time of domestic inflation and federal deficits.
“A big and great country should be able to do both,” he said. “We should be able to get our spending under control, and we should be able to have a strong military that will stand up for friends around the world who are free.”
Christie says that he believes each state should decide its own abortion laws
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said in CNN's town hall tonight that he believes each state should decide its own abortion laws.
On the federal government's role in the abortion issue, he said that he believes "Roe was unconstitutional," which he said conservatives have been arguing for 50 years. He said that the federal government should "not be involved unless — and until — there's consensus around the country" from all the states on what the abortion law should be.
Asked by CNN's Anderson Cooper on whether he would sign a bill for a federal abortion ban as president if there was consensus, Christie said, "There's a lot of ifs in there."
Pressed by Cooper on what he believes the time period in terms of weeks pregnant should be for a ban on abortion, Christie said, "I don't think anything in my heart about time period. What I have in my heart is that every life is precious and should be protected."