Christie: Who’s Going to Take Care of War Orphans?

We’ve been chronicling 2016 hopeful Chris Christie’s rise in the presidential race for a few weeks now. His increased media attention hasn’t translated into a huge bump in the polls, but for Christie at least it’s a start. He’s gotten Donald Trump’s attention, at least!

While Christie first made his push on the strength of a speech about a more compassionate drug policy, he’s shifted his tone since the Paris terrorist attacks on November 13th. As Slate’s Jim Newell points out, Christie is starting to sound just like George W. Bush on the campaign trail.

“Let me tell you as a former prosecutor, as I began to watch the event unfold last night: I am convinced that was a terrorist attack,” Christie said at yesterday’s Republican Jewish Coalition candidates’ forum. “If a center for the developmentally disabled in San Bernardino, California can be a target for a terrorist attack, then every place in America is a target for a terrorist attack.” Christie then “then launched into a five-minute retelling of what he, his family, his friends, and his neighbors were doing on Sept. 11, 2001,” as Newell writes.

Christie’s gone hard right on foreign policy, and he’s sticking to it. The Atlantic’s Jeffery Goldberg had this exchange with Christie before a speech last week. After the attack on Paris, Christie said not even 5-year-old Syrian war orphans should be allowed into the United States. Goldberg pressed him:

Goldberg: What’s with the orphans, what the hell was that all about? It didn’t sound like you.

Christie: Listen, you know what, it was a question. He asked me a question.

Goldberg: Fine, but why wouldn’t you want to take in some cute little 5-year-old orphans?

Christie: Because who’s going to take care of the cute little 5-year-old orphans?

It’s not yet clear if “no war orphans” will be a winning platform for Christie.