Chris Christie is ticked-off that Donald Trump remains a central figure in Republican Party politics. This was made abundantly clear when Chris Christie, a former governor of New Jersey and now a contender for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, got testy with Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer during an interview about immigration policy.
BILL HEMMER: Dershowitz argued last night that they were doing the same thing on behalf on Al Gore in Florida in 2000
CHRIS CHRISTIE: Except when Al Gore lost his legal challenges, he conceded the election pic.twitter.com/OSeUIm2pwg
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 15, 2023
Christie took issue with Hemmer’s praise of Donald Trump’s record on immigration and his suggestion that the Republican voters want someone critical of Trump in the primary race. “Wait a second, Bill. His policies did not do better at the border,” said Christie. “Not true.”
He then went on to point out that Trump had promised to build a wall across the entire border in his first four years while president and Mexico never paid for any part of it. In addition, Christie noted that despite having control over Congress for two years, Trump failed to get one change to immigration laws passed.
2024 GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie: “The border is ridiculous.”
Fox News’ Bill Hemmer: “Trump … did much better.”
Christie: “Wait a second, Bill. His policies did not do better at the border … Mexico hasn’t given us one peso yet.” pic.twitter.com/vHwMddgYfp
— The Recount (@therecount) June 14, 2023
“You can go down to the border today and see piles of steel that are just laying there in the Arizona desert,” countered Hemmer.
“Those piles of steel have been sitting there since Donald Trump was president,” replied Christie without missing a beat. “He didn’t get it done…He couldn’t finish it and he didn’t change one immigration law.”
This exchange between Chris Christie and Bill Hemmer illustrates just how influential Donald Trump still is within Republican circles — so much so that even potential candidates for his old job feel compelled to weigh in on his record as President on key issues such as immigration reform. It also shows how deeply divided Republicans remain when it comes to their views on this controversial topic – with some arguing passionately in favor of stricter border security measures while others contend more needs to be done to improve access for immigrants seeking entry into America legally or through humanitarian pathways