Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie tore into fellow Republican John Kasich after Kasich endorsed Joe Biden for president while speaking at the Democratic Party’s virtual national convention this week.
“I’m a lifelong Republican, but that attachment holds second place to my responsibility to my country,” Kasich said in a video speech played during the convention. “That’s why I’ve chosen to appear at this convention. In normal times, something like this would probably never happen. But these are not normal times.”
Kasich explained he understands that many independents or fellow Republicans “couldn’t imagine crossing over to support a Democrat.”
“They fear Joe may turn sharp left and leave them behind,” he said. “I don’t believe that. Because I know the measure of the man — reasonable, faithful, respectful. And you know, no one pushes Joe around.”
Christie, who, along with Kasich, ran against President Trump in the 2016 Republican primary, characterized the former governor of Ohio as tough to work with and politically opportunistic.
“Just to show you where John Kasich’s standing is in the Republican Party: When he was the only Republican governor left on the stage in 2016 — Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, and John Kasich [were] the three candidates left — do you know how many Republicans governors, of his colleagues, his sitting colleagues, endorsed John Kasich? Zero,” Christie said. “And the reason they didn’t endorse him is because he’s a backstabber, and he’s an untruthful guy. And so, tonight, Republicans are going to look at that and go, ‘You can have him.’ Please — believe me — give us a break. Get him out of our party. You take him for a little while because on top of that, I’ve worked with John a lot. He’s exhausting.”
Trump on Monday also attacked Kasich for supporting Biden.
“He was a loser as a Republican, and he’ll be a loser as a Democrat,” Trump said. “Major loser as a Republican. I guess you can quote me on that. John was a loser as a Republican. Never even came close. And as a Democrat, he’ll be an even greater loser.”
Democrats spent the first night of the convention painting Trump as a dangerous man who is not up to the job of being president, blaming him for deaths due to the coronavirus and accusing him of fanning the flames of racial tensions in America.
“Let me be as honest and clear as I possibly can. Donald Trump is the wrong president for our country. He has had more than enough time to prove that he can do the job, but he is clearly in over his head,” former first lady Michelle Obama said in delivering the night’s keynote address. “He cannot meet this moment. He simply cannot be who we need him to be for us. It is what it is.”
A pair of other former Republican elected officials, Christine Todd Whitman and Susan Molinari, also spoke during Monday night’s event in support of Biden and against Trump.
“It’s about a person, a person decent enough, stable enough, strong enough to get our economy back on track,” Whitman said. “A person who can work with everyone, Democrats and Republicans, to get things done. Donald Trump isn’t that person. Joe Biden is.”
