October 18, 2016
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has invested quite a bit of political capital into Donald Trump's presidential campaign. After dropping out himself, Christie was the first of the former GOP primary candidates to endorse Trump, and Christie was tapped to lead Trump's presidential transition team.
In the months since, Trump's campaign has been hit with several scandals and public mishaps, including a number of women who have come forward to accuse the candidate of sexual harassment and assault, allegations that surfaced after the release of a 2005 tape of Trump making lewd comments that imply acts of sexual assault. Trump has responded by calling his accusers "sick," suggesting that some were not attractive enough for his attention and referring to himself as a "victim."
Christie initially stayed silent about the tape before admitting that it "upset" him, and has been rather quiet on the campaign trail since.
NBC News' Kelly O'Donnell got Christie to speak about the more recent developments after stopping him on the street for an interview that aired Tuesday on "Morning Joe." As for the sexual harassment allegations, Christie said Trump had personally assured him they were false.
Later in the interview, O'Donnell asks, "Are you proud of the campaign he's running?"
Here's Christie's response (transcript via Politico):
“Listen, for me, the person who needs most to be concerned about the kind of the campaign they’re running is the candidate, because it’s the candidate’s campaign,” Christie said. “It’s not my campaign, it’s not Jeff Sessions’ campaign, it’s not Rudy Giuliani’s campaign. We’re surrogates. And I’m proud of everything I’ve said and that’s all I can control. The rest of it I can’t control, Kelly.”
A noticeable word missing in his response: "yes."
