New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s surprise endorsement of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump Friday fueled immediate speculation among pundits and D.C. insiders that the governor was angling to be the billionaire businessman and reality TV star’s vice presidential pick.
Christie himself did not rule it out when asked during a press conference with Trump to announce his endorsement. “I haven’t been offered the position. I don’t care to speculate on these things,” he said, adding that he intended to fill out his term as governor.
That didn’t stop others from speculating on just that. The moment the announcement came out, the speculation was all over Twitter.
“Chris Christie at Trump presser: ‘Every expectation’ I’ll finish my term as NJ governor. Translation: I’m available for VP,” tweeted Fox News pundit Howard Kurtz.
His Fox colleague, former NBC newsman David Gregory, agreed, tweeting, “Chris Christie endorses Trump. First big endorsement. Possible veep? First reaction is that he’ll be good attack dog for Trump.”
Reuters journalist Jonathan Spicer also wondered aloud about it. “New Jersey Governor Chris Christie endorses Donald Trump for president… and who might be Veep?” he tweeted.
Nevada pundit Jon Ralston scoffed at Christie’s claim that he expected to remain in office until his term runs out. “‘I have every expectation that I will fulfill the rest of my term, says man who was trying to leave the governorship just a few weeks ago,” Ralston tweeted.
Yahoo News editor-in-chief Garance Franke-Ruta was already pondering how well Christie and Trump would work together. “As fun as it is to consider, Christie would actually be a terrible VP for Trump — would amplify all his negatives,” she tweeted.
Republican consultant Liz Mair, who has been been prodding the party to forcefully take on Trump, took an even more cynical view. “To be fair, Christie might be correctly betting Trump will get indicted and if he’s the VP, then he gets to be Prez,” she tweeted. She later clarified she meant “impeached” rather than indicted.
