Chris Christie Says He Didn’t Embrace Obama, He Just Walked and Chewed Gum at the Same Time


New Jersey Governor Chris Christie addressed the press in LBI on Wednesday. In addition to winter storm Athena (read: the Nor’easter that’s about to kick the East Coast while it’s down), Christie offered his thoughts on the presidential election and, specifically, his role in the Mitt Romney campaign. The guv says that he put a lot of effort into getting Romney elected, but that he doesn’t intend to dwell on the outcome of the election. Oh, and then he basically offered in 2016 nomination acceptance speech.

My work with President Obama was symbolic of the leadership I brought to Trenton over the last three years. Sometimes you need to be a little direct and blunt to get the attention of the other party. I plead guilty to that. But what the party also knows is that I’m a guy they can sit down with and make a compromise with in order to make progress. We’ve made great progress with this state in a bipartisan way. My activity with President Obama is just another chapter in the leadership I’ve tried to show in this state. People care more about getting things done than they care about partisanship. I’m going to continue to conduct myself that way. I can be as hard a partisan as the next guy when I think it’s necessary, and I’ve proven that. But when it’s necessary to get the job done and get the deal I can do that too. That’s what people expect you to do. They expect you to walk and chew gum at the same time.

Someone, somewhere is already making “Walk and chew gum at the same time 2016” T-shirts. [NBC Philadelphia]