New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie called Hillary Clinton a disgrace Wednesday after she responded to the shooting death of an unarmed black man in Oklahoma by saying the U.S. must address its problem of systemic racism.
“She’s a disgrace. She’s a disgrace and those comments are a disgrace,” Christie said in a radio interview. “It’s typical of Hillary Clinton. She knows nothing but the mouth never stops.”
Clinton said Tuesday in response to last week’s shooting death of Terrence Crutcher, an unarmed African-American male who was shot and killed by police, that the situation has become “unbearable.”
“We have got to tackle systemic racism,” Clinton said in a radio interview. “This horrible shooting again. How many times do we have to see this in our country?”
“This is just unbearable and it needs to be intolerable. And maybe I can, by speaking directly to white people, say, ‘Look, this is not who we are,'” she continued. “We have got to do everything possible to improve policing, to go right at implicit bias.”
Footage from the incident showed a police officer fired and killed Crutcher last week even after the 40-year-old father of four appeared to have surrendered.
Crutcher’s family said his SUV broke down along the highway as he was driving home from a class at a nearby community college, KOKI-TV reported.
Clinton revisited the discussion Wednesday afternoon at a campaign rally in Orlando, Fla., and also referenced the death of Keith Lamont Scott, a 43-year-old black male who was killed this week by police in Charlotte, N.C.
“There is still much we don’t know about what happened in both incidents, but we do know that we have two more names to add to a list of African Americans killed by police officers in these encounters. It’s unbearable and it needs to become intolerable,” Clinton said.
Scott was shot after he was confronted by police officers at an apartment complex near the University of North Carolina and reportedly refused to drop his handgun.
Christie responded sharply to Clinton’s remarks, and said she doesn’t have the experience in law or the knowledge to comment on either events.
“The fact is she has no idea what happened in North Carolina,” the New Jersey governor said. “The same way, as you very aptly pointed out Laura, people jumped to conclusions in Ferguson, which caused riot conditions in Ferguson, because of politicians dumping gasoline on a fire.”
Clinton has, “no experience in law enforcement except for being interviewed by them,” he continued.
Christie said, “I’m just appalled, and as someone who spent seven years in law enforcement, she’s exactly the kind of politician that law enforcement loathes, loathes her. Because she jumps to conclusions for political gain and doesn’t care what careers or lives she ruins in the process.”
