Christie's Nagging Question as He Got Fired From Trump Team

He wanted confirmation that Jared Kushner, not Trump, really wanted him off transition team
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 17, 2017 1:50 PM CST
Christie on His Firing From Trump Team: It Had to Be Jared
In this Oct. 26, 2017, photo, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie walks on the stage after President Trump and first lady Melania Trump spoke on the opioid crisis at the White House in Washington.   (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

Despite reportedly being Donald Trump's fast-food fetcher during the campaign, Chris Christie really seemed to want to keep working on the former's transition team, admitting he was legitimately bummed when he was unceremoniously removed from that role and replaced with VP-elect Mike Pence. But per the Week and the Hill, that McDonald's run may have been a myth from the start, and Christie apparently doesn't blame Trump at all for dumping him for Pence—because he thinks it was Jared Kushner's doing. Those reports both emerge from a Politico interview with the outgoing New Jersey governor, who spent nearly three hours dishing with Josh Dawsey on the 2016 election, his state's Bridgegate, and everything in between.

Christie says as he was being fired just days after the election, he had a heated conversation about the matter with then-aide Steve Bannon, and Christie tried to twist his arm to admit Kushner had been the force behind Christie's firing (Christie had prosecuted Kushner's father in 2005 and helped send him to prison). "I asked," Christie tells Dawsey. "[Bannon] didn't answer. But [based on] subsequent conversations I've had with the president, I just don't believe this was the president's decision." And that tale about Christie heading to McDonald's for Trump? Ex-Trump aide Sam Nunberg tells Dawsey he planted the fake story to humiliate Christie. "The sad reality is that it was believable," Nunberg says. Dawsey's entire sit-down with Christie here, including how longtime aides often thought he made "totally f---ing inexplicable" decisions. (More Chris Christie stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X