Former Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie might be eyeing a presidential run. Who knows at this point, but there are signs. The Daily Beast obtained a copy of Christie’s new book, Republican Rescue, and he claims that former President Donald Trump offered him a job in his administration as chief of staff, but he turned it down. Christie claims that one of the reasons he declined the powerful role in the Trump administration is because the former president has a big mouth.
Christie recalled that Trump aggressively tried to sell the job during a meeting and erupted ‘when the ex-governor demanded he would have the right to decide if and when a chief of staff does media appearances. “No, no, no, no, no,” the president allegedly shot back. “I control those.”‘
“Trump agreed to the ex-governor’s suggestion, however, that it would be inappropriate for Christie to manage the president’s daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner—not only because of their familial relationship to the commander-in-chief but because of the Kushner family’s long-standing beef with Christie, a former federal prosecutor who famously sent Charles Kushner to prison for tax fraud,” the outlet reports.
Trump was highly interested in reviewing Christie’s then-upcoming book in advance, but Christie recalls declining to share the book with the president, fearing it “might fall into the wrong hands.”
Stay up-to-date with the latest news!
Subscribe and start recieving our daily emails.
“Trump concluded the chat by offering Christie the job and gave him the night to think it over. Within hours, Christie recalls, Axios reported that the ex-governor had met with the president for the chief of staff job,” the outlet reports. ‘Christie seems to suggest the potential for the president to have leaked his own secret meetings was a cause for concern: “I couldn’t help but wonder,” he writes. “There were only three people in that room at the White House. I knew I didn’t leak the story. It seemed unlikely to me that Melania did. Who was left? Did Trump really have someone leak that story even before I’d gotten off the train?”‘
Christie also recalled that part of his decision to decline the position was “aggressive” behavior displayed by Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump. The former first daughter reportedly called Christie’s wife while trying to smooth the waters in hopes that the former Governor would take a role in the administration. Christie recalled that his wife, Mary Pat, was “taken aback” by the call.
You can read the full report here.
Featured image via Gage Skidmore/Flickr, under Creative Commons license 2.0
