ATLANTA — New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie traveled to the RedState Gathering of conservative activists and won over a crowd that booed him vigorously the night before. Host Erick Erickson lauded Christie as having done “very well” as governor of a blue state, and thanked him for traveling on three hours of sleep.
Christie stayed away from controversial issues of national security and privacy that grabbed national attention during the first GOP presidential debate on Thursday. In Georgia, Christie focused on his support for pro-life causes and stance on women’s health issues.
“If we start defining our party as the pro-life party and the broader pro-life party that believes that every life deserves salvation and that every life is a precious gift from God, we will build an unbeatable majority in this country,” he said. “That’s why I’m running for president of the United States.”
The governor did not comment on the debate on Thursday night, but did criticize the 16 other major GOP presidential candidates for not challenging Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s stance on women’s health.
“I was not only so outraged by the videos we’ve all been seeing from Planned Parenthood, disgusting … but I was just as disgusted by a video put out by Hillary Clinton because she’s playing the old game that we better get ready for if we’re going to win this election,” Christie said. “She says Republicans are against women’s healthcare. Well let me tell you this, the number one killer of women in this country is heart disease. The number two killer of women is breast cancer. None of what she’s talking about has anything to do with that.”
Christie also spoke about the need to stock the Supreme Court with conservative minds like Justice Samuel Alito, and criticized the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as a group that has hurt the ability of the federal government to accomplish immigration reform.
The longer he talked, the more he seemed to win over the audience. When asked how a governor from the Northeast could convince Southerners to vote for him to hold the highest office in the land, Christie joked that the Deep South would get used to his accent.
“Except for the fact that we may sound a little different, depending on where we are, I don’t think folks want anything different,” Christie said. “Beside my overwhelming good looks and charm, strength is what will make you relate to a person from New Jersey.”
