BOW, N.H.—New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who need a strong showing in next weeks primary to save his presidential candidacy, opened a town hall with a blistering attack on three of his top Republican presidential opponents, including Donald Trump, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.
Christie related a story of the late James Gandolfini, the star of “The Sopranos,” telling him that “it’s all make believe” before offering the crowd the same guidance about Trump’s candidacy.
“You know it’s all make believe, right? The guy who’s running first in the polls right now, you know it’s all make believe, right?” Christie said. “You know there’s not really a boardroom where he and Ivanka and Erick and Donny sit, right? You know that when he says ‘you’re fired,’ you’re not really fired because it’s not real. It’s all for that. It’s all TV.”
Christie then set his sights on the two freshman senators, whom he described as having “never managed anything — other than a thirty-person senate staff — in their lives.”
“Ted Cruz has been a senator now for three years and two of them, he’s been running for president,” Christie said. “Marco Rubio’s been a United States senator for five years and two of them he’s been running for president and they’re telling you that doesn’t matter. You know better.”
Christie added that the, “difference between me and Marco Rubio is he’s afraid of you, I trust you.” And the governor launched into an extended metaphor about trucks stuck in the mud in an attempt to make his presidential campaign more appealing.
“Two different types of trucks in this race man,” Christie said. “There’s the Marco Rubio/Ted Cruz truck — it’s the new, shiny, smells-nice truck. And there’s the Chris Christie truck — it’s old. It’s beat up. It’s nicked up. It doesn’t smell as good as it used to. But man the Chris Christie truck does know how to get out of the mud, you know why? Because it’s been in the mud before.”
Christie continued his extended metaphor into an argument for his electability in a general election.
“Let me tell you, you think the mud’s bad today, wait ’til September everybody. Because there’s nobody who makes mud like Clinton mud,” he said. “They know they can’t survive unless they put you in the mud with them. And when that comes — it’s coming, don’t doubt it for a second, don’t worry about old Bernie, it’s gonna be her. … She’ll be there and ol’ Bill, he’ll be hosing down the stage. He’ll be creating the mud beforehand, you know he will. And which truck do you want on that stage opposite of the mud-makers?”
Christie, who ranks seventh in the Washington Examiner‘s newest GOP presidential power rankings, finished below two Republican competitors in Iowa who have already quit the presidential race — Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. The future of Christie’s candidacy may hinge on his performance in New Hampshire, where he has focused a majority of his time since beginning his presidential campaign.
