New Jersey — Today, New Jersey’s governor Chris Christie defended the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump after he was criticized by Jeb Bush on his proposal to ban Muslims from entering the U.S.
During the GOP presidential debate on Tuesday, Bush said that the millionaire wouldn’t be able to “insult his way” into the presidency. The former Florida governor described Trump as a non-serious presidential candidate.
On Trump’s defense, Christie came out in a radio interview with Laura Ingraham to say that, contrary to Bush, he considered the businessman as a serious candidate.
“He looks like a serious candidate to me. And I’ve always said all along, having known Donald Trump for 13 years on a personal level, that Donald will be as serious candidate for president as he wants to be. And he sounded serious to me last night. And so, maybe Jeb and I were listening to different things,” he stated.
Just last week, Christie had already backed up Trump when he said he didn’t believe the candidate was hateful or a bigot; however, previous statements from the governor calling Trump’s candidacy ridiculous contradict his current stance.
Igor Bobic, a Huffington Post writer, pointed out that Christie’s defense of Trump was odd, considering that the governor had taken a stance against Islamophobia before in a few occasions.
Back in 2001 when the attack in the World Trade Center brought criticism and hostility towards the Muslim population amongst conservatives, Christie supported the nomination of a Muslim-American lawyer to New Jersey’s Superior Court.
Later this month, when a woman asked him how he would address the American misconception that all Muslims are terrorists, he talked about how New Jersey has the second largest Muslim-American population, saying it was important to build communication with said community and that they couldn’t be blamed for the crimes of a few.
According to senator Ted Cruz’s declarations, standing by Trump was a way to not upset his supporters, as the businessman is currently a front-runner for the Republican party.
Source: Huffington Post