Jersey Trump fans shoot down Christie veep talk

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee and New Jersey governor had teamed up for back-to-back fundraisers to help pay off the substantial debt Christie accrued during his failed White House bid, in addition to raising money for the state’s Republican Party, which has struggled to cover legal costs from the George Washington Bridge closure scandal.

But many of those who paid the admission fee to see the governor and Trump speak, admitted they probably wouldn’t have done so if it had just been Christie on stage Thursday night.

Attendee after attendee — some of whom were students who’d paid a discounted entry free of $25 — told the Washington Examiner they “came to see Trump,” paying little attention to the other half of the dynamic duo.

Furthermore, despite Christie’s cozy relationship with the billionaire — “We’ve been friends with Donald Trump for 14 years,” he said of himself and first lady Mary Pat Christie, shortly after taking the stage — many of his constituents suggested he would be a burden if Trump tapped him for the bottom of the ticket.

“There was a time that I thought Chris Christie would be a good vice presidential candidate, but I think there’s too much baggage right now,” said Thomas Maye of Clark, N.J.

“I think that Trump could do better by choosing somebody to bring back the conservative base of the Republican party,” he added.

Christie is among the half-dozen or so individuals whose names have been floated as serious possibilities for the vice presidential slot. As recently as last week, Trump declined to rule out the Garden State governor, who he recently appointed chairman of his transition team, as a potential running mate.

“Gov. Christie, your governor, balanced the budget six times without raising taxes. Gov. Christie contributed more to the pension system than any other governor in New Jersey state history. Gov. Christie brought the insolvent New Jersey Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund back to solvency. That’s a pretty good track record and that’s just a few,” Trump told members of the crowd Thursday night.

One Trump fan in the sea of red “Make America Great Again” hats respectfully disagreed.

“I don’t really like Chris Christie,” Edward Maye told the Examiner. “He totally messed up our pensions.”

“I’ll support him because he’s supporting Trump, but I don’t think [he] would be a good choice,” Maye said of his governor potentially becoming Trump’s running mate.

“There are definitely better options than Christie,” said Robert Graciano of Middlesex County. Graciano acknowledged that he liked Christie, whom he described as a “hothead,” but said the two-term governor “would not help Trump in his run against Hillary.”

“They’re too much alike,” noted Jersey resident Donna Rowan. “I think you need someone who can counter him a little bit or be softer so Donald can be himself.”

An overwhelming majority of New Jerseyans seem to agree, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released 24 hours before Trump and Christie took the stage Thursday.

By a 4-to-1 margin, residents of the Garden State oppose seeing their governor at the bottom of the GOP ticket. Among Republican voters included in the survey, 64 percent disapproved of a Trump-Christie ticket, while a little over a quarter were open to the idea.

“He needs a woman, like Susana Gonzales,” Morristown resident Jonathan Guerrieri enthusiastically suggested. He most likely meant New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, a frequent subject of vice presidential speculation.

“I would prefer somebody like Jeff Sessions. Way better than Christie on trade. Way better than Christie on immigration,” another attendee told the Examiner.

As it turns out, even Christie’s sports team preferences were enough to dissuade one New Jersey resident from supporting him as a running mate for Trump.

“He’s a Cowboys fan and was high-fiving [Dallas Cowboys owner] Jerry Jones in the Cowboys against the Giants. That hurts,” said Graciano, a fervent Jets fan and, as of 2014, retired Christie loyalist.