Former New Jersey Republican Governor Chris Christie claimed that phone calls from Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner convinced him not to accept a role as former President Donald Trump's Chief of Staff.
Christie made the claim in his new book, Republican Rescue, which comes out next week. In it, he details two separate phone calls between the former President's daughter and son-in-law, both senior advisers, that precipitated him turning down the role.
Christie says he had expressed misgivings about managing White House affairs with Kushner in proximity because during his time as a federal prosecutor, he sent Kushner's father, Charles Kushner, to prison for tax fraud.
But Christie says Kushner claimed to be "fine" with the possibility despite a long-standing beef with the Kushner family and gave Christie his full support.
Things got a little weirder after Ivanka Trump phoned and spoke with Christie's wife, Mary Pat.
During the call, Ivanka Trump stressed that she would do her part not to allow the past interfere with their potential work with Christie, telling her:
"I know there have been problems between the governor and my husband's family in the past, but you have my word, wife to wife, mother to mother, that I will make sure that nothing like that happens if the governor comes here."
Christie writes that his wife was "taken aback" by the conversation and that the call convinced him not to accept the role:
"By that point, I had pretty much decided there was no way I was going to take this job. And the high-pressure campaign from the next generation, especially Ivanka's call to Mary Pat, wasn't about to convince me otherwise."
At the time, news outlets reported that Christie had turned down the role for "family reasons" but he says the two phone calls were why he officially withdrew his name from consideration.
Afterward, he recalls, former President Trump offered Christie other high-profile positions within his administration, including Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Homeland Security, none of which Christie accepted.
Christie says Trump had only a surface level understanding of what these roles actually entailed, writing:
"Secretary of labor. Secretary of homeland security. Ambassador to the Vatican. Ambassador to Italy."
"He figured I'd be a good fit at the Vatican since I am Catholic. He thought of me as ambassador to Italy because my mother was Italian."
"I don't think the analysis went any deeper than that. Trump didn't overanalyze choices like these."
Given that Christie continued to publicly support Trump for years despite these misgivings, his claims have garnered a largely negative reaction.
That and he probably wasn't offered the job. https://t.co/FnTNE0jWVi
— Tea Pain (@TeaPainUSA) November 12, 2021
I mean, there's no way this is true. Christie licked Trumps boots non stop for decades. He would have done anything to be in that inner circle. He wants power and money as badly as anyone on the Rt does.https://t.co/KRzisrfAMO
— Totally Fucking Gay (@TotalFuckGay) November 12, 2021
So, a new book says @GovChristie turned down the Chief of Staff job because of Trump's 'big mouth' and Ivanka's 'aggressive' behavior.
For me, the reason would have been Trump's total incompetence, white supremacy & fascism.
— Robert Elisberg (@relisberg) November 12, 2021
Please don't rehabilitate this disgusting piece of shit. Christie is a horrible person like the rest of the GQP in this country. https://t.co/mwLuZxDxu1
— Karl Von Baldwin (@KarlVonBaldwin1) November 12, 2021
But you continued to prop him up? Why? https://t.co/yX5cVT6PSv
— Rick Madonik 🇨🇦 #wearamask (@RMadonik) November 12, 2021
He's hoping the truth about Trump will come out before 2024 and that he can step in to fill the void; whatever happens to Trump, Chris Christie is no good
— David conte (@daveconte1971) November 12, 2021
Not being treated like a 3d tier VEEP man servant wasn't the reason? And worrying about what Jared might put in your back while hanging in WH? Far more believable. Bet he's glad he didn't get VP too—“Hang Chris Christie" has a similar ring to it.
— soso08 (@soso08) November 13, 2021
Gotta sell the book right! Talk about traffic on the bridge 🤡
— S.P (@spfarrell210) November 12, 2021
Just b/c you've decided it's now politically expedient to speak out against TFG doesn't mean u get to rewrite history: we all know a) you would've accepted CoS job in a heartbeat & b) there's no way Jared was ever going to allow that, so stop w/ the lies. https://t.co/0AJRozryxM
— Kincaid (@kincaid323) November 12, 2021
LOL, the pot calling the kettle black.
Trump's 'big mouth' and Ivanka's 'aggressive' behavior led Chris Christie to reject chief of staff job: book https://t.co/k7q3lRhDgx
— Texas Yellow Rosie (@julyjaneshawnee) November 12, 2021
Christie sparred with Trump most recently after Trump attacked Christie over remarks he made at the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) conference in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Trump claimed that Christie "was just absolutely massacred by his statements that Republicans have to move on from the past, meaning the 2020 Election Fraud," continuing to amplify his lies that the 2020 general election was stolen.
Trump went on to say that Christie left the New Jersey governorship with an approval rating of just 9% when in fact Christie's approval rating, while the lowest of any governor in New Jersey's history, never dipped below 15%.
Christie had urged Republicans to move beyond Trump's preoccupation with the 2020 election, telling his audience that far more is at stake while "Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer are laying ruin to this country."
