DERRY, N.H. — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie kicked off his town hall Wednesday evening by confronting a voter who sought a “tell it like it is” answer to his question.
“I am dumbfounded why you pocket-vetoed the A4271 bill,” the middle-aged man told Christie, referring to a bill Christie vetoed on Tuesday aimed at expanding access to prescription abuse-deterrent opioids.
“While my dedication to addressing substance abuse is strident, I cannot blindly approve any legislation related to this issue,” the two-term governor wrote in his veto.
“Your explanation was that it needed further study, but there’s research there that backs this up,” the man continued. “Did you take a dive on this? I want that straightforward, ‘Tell it like it is’ answer,” he told the governor, mocking Christie’s campaign slogan.
“I first want to congratulate you on that performance,” Christie responded sharply. “For someone who prefaces a question with, ‘I don’t speak much in front of audiences like this,’ that was an Academy Award-winning performance.”
“Yes, I cited that there needs to be further studies of these drugs,” he continued. “Yes, I cited [New York] Gov. [Andrew] Cuomo’s veto as someone who’s been even less aggressive in the drug war, but also was concerned about the studies that need to be done.”
“But the most important reason that I vetoed it was because I am not going to approve spending in the middle of the year absent an ability to show that we are going to pay for it,” Christie said. “So I appreciate the performance, but the performance has to have some facts behind it.”
“You’re not telling the truth,” the voter replied.
“With all due respect, if you want to debate this, then become the 13th candidate for president of the United States,” Christie shot back, drawing laughter from the majority of the crowd.
“I’m not here to debate this, and for you to take shots at us, given what we’ve done for drug treatment in the state of New Jersey, 49 other states should be following us,” he said.
