This has arguably been a difficult year for Gov. Chris Christie. In the shadow of the Bridgegate scandal he found himself out in the race for the White House, and then out of the running for a key post in the Trump White House. NJTV News Chief Political Correspondent Michael Aron spoke with Anchor Mary Alice Williams.
Williams: Is the governor at a low ebb?
Aron: Most observers would say yes he’s at a low ebb. His image suffered from the testimony at the Bridgegate trial. Whether it was true or not, it just portrayed him in a bad light. Then came being passed over by Donald Trump for a position in the cabinet, although I’m told there was an offer and that Christie wasn’t interested in the particular position. He wanted attorney general, but Jeff Sessions got that. Then a couple polls came out showing his approval rating down to 18 and 19 percent. And then there was last week’s collapse of a legislative initiative in Trenton on a book deal and raises for certain officials and the legal advertising bill and that was probably the biggest rebuke of the Legislature for Christie in seven years. That said, I don’t count Christie out in any way.
Williams: What are you hearing? Is he sulking about all of this?
Aron: I spoke to someone today who said he spent some time with Christie last week and the governor is in high spirits. I believe that. I don’t think Christie really cares too much about the polls. He has to care some, he’s a human being with an ego, but he says he doesn’t care and I think there’s some truth to that. I do think however that he’s angry at the press and one of the things that causes me to say that is that he didn’t invite the press to Drumthwacket this December as he has all during his two terms and as other governors did before him. It’s probably been 15 years since the press has not been invited to a party there.
Williams: Can he recover for his last year to embed his legacy? Can he recover from this?
Aron: I think he can. I’ve spoken to people today who think he will. He needs to focus on New Jersey. He would say he’s been focused on New Jersey all along, but he needs to really focus. It wouldn’t hurt him to get out there and really stump for something again, yet we don’t know what that might be. Some people think that he’s going to focus on school funding in his final year of office. I heard one person say he’s going to work to keep a couple of key companies in the state. Whatever, he’s a very skilled politician and there’s a long time between now and the end of his term. What if we suffer some kind of disaster, natural or man made? Christie could step into that the way he did after Sandy and achieved a 70-something percent approval rating back then.