6 times Chris Christie slammed Donald Trump — before endorsing him
Former Republican presidential candidate and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was singing Donald Trump's praises Friday when he endorsed the GOP frontrunner for president, but just last month — and the month before that, and the month before that, and the month before that — Christie didn't seem so convinced that the "entertainer-in-chief" with "really thin skin" who likes to "talk off the top of [his] head" was going to "do exactly what needs to be done to make America a leader around the world again."
Here's a quick refresher on Christie's take on Trump, pre-endorsement:
1. "Entertainer-in-chief."
"We are not electing an entertainer-in-chief. Showmanship is fun, but it's not the type of leadership that will truly change America. If we're going to turn our frustration and anger with the D.C. insiders and the politicians of yesterday and the carnival barkers of today into something that will actually change Americans' lives, then we must elect someone who has been tested, someone with proven experience." [Christie on the campus of Saint Anselm College in Goffstown, New Hampshire, January 2016]
2. "Really thin skin."
"Why is he picking on Megyn Kelly? I don't understand — why's he picking on Fox News? I don't understand that. It makes no sense. This guy's got more coverage on this network by a multiple of five or six than any of the rest of us and he says he is being treated unfairly? That's a really thin skin." [Fox News, January 2016]
3. "He can't say, 'Mr. Speaker, you're fired.'"
"He's got great experience in doing things in business. But I'll give you a perfect example: If he doesn't get what he wants from John Boehner, he can't fire him. He can't say, 'Mr. Speaker, you're fired. Mr. Majority Leader, you're fired.' You've got to learn to work [with them]. And I just don't think that it best utilizes his skills." [Fox News' On the Record with Greta Van Susteren, August 2015]
4. "In the context of Donald, outrageous is a high bar."
"He shouldn't be making fun of people with disabilities. It's just not worthy of someone running for the president of the United States. He's got to answer for himself. Part of the folly of all this is that we're answering for him. He's said what's he's said, and now the people who vote will have to judge him. In the context of Donald, outrageous is a high bar." [CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, November 2015]
5. "Someone who's just going to talk off the top of their head."
"The fact is we don't need to be profiling in order to be able to get the job done here. What you need is a president who's had the experience and the know-how to do this and not someone who's just going to talk off the top of their head." [CBS' Face the Nation, December 2015]
6. "He insults everybody within spitting distance of him... he signs a bunch of hats... he leaves."
"He gives an hour-long rambling speech where he insults everybody within spitting distance of him, he signs a bunch of hats then throws them into the crowd, and he leaves. When you do that, you don't have to answer, 'How?'" [Christie at a town hall in Davenport, Iowa, January 2016]