New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie failed to make the main stage of the GOP presidential debate for the first time this election season, but used much of his time criticizing Democrats and not his fellow Republicans.
Christie seized an early opportunity to rail against the federal government and tell the crowd that the Democratic Party’s vision for America neglected to tell the whole truth.
“How do you win a national election when the Democrats are offering free healthcare, a freer subsidized college education, and you’re the party that is seemingly offering nothing in the way off immediate tangible benefits?” asked Trish Regan, Fox Business debate moderator.
“Yeah, sure. If anybody believes the stuff they heard from that Democratic debate a few weeks ago, there’s nothing for free,” answered Christie. “What they forgot to tell you is that they’re going to raise your tax rates to 70 or 80 percent in order to provide all of that stuff. But let me ask the folks at home one very simple question, do you want to give Washington more control over your life?”
“The fact is that if you listen to Hillary Clinton, she’s made it very clear, she believes that she can make decisions for you better than you can make them for yourself,” Christie continued. “Here’s what I believe as a Republican. I believe the greatness of America is not in its government, the greatness of America is in the American people. And what we need to do is get the government the hell out of the way and let the people win once again.”
Despite a spike in earned media and increasing poll numbers in New Hampshire, the downsizing of the prime time debate stage eliminated the New Jersey governor from competition with the GOP’s top tier of Republican candidates. Christie ranks fifth in the Washington Examiner‘s most recent GOP presidential power rankings.
