GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie on Tuesday ridiculed Hillary Clinton for apologizing for confusing the American public by using a private email server while serving as secretary of state and accused President Barack Obama of being "AWOL" on the issue.
"She will apologize for people not understanding," the New Jersey governor told
Fox News' "Fox and Friends" program. "How great is it that Hillary Clinton is apologizing to us for not understanding her lies? Really?
And Obama should be "standing up" and commenting on the issue, Christie continued.
"This is a failure of leadership," said the governor. "When people make mistakes, you need to say, listen, own up to them. Cooperate with authorities ... that's not the way it works in Hillary world."
Christie also blamed Obama and Clinton both for the mounting refugee crisis in Europe.
"He took a stand way back," said Christie. "He said if [Syrian leader Bashar al-] Assad uses chemical weapons against his people, we'll take him out. Assad killed 240,000 Syrians, and the president has done nothing. This is part of the failed foreign policy. Hillary Clinton and the president called Assad a reformer. I don't know what he's reforming, but it's wrong."
Christie also discussed Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, who is in jail for refusing to obey a judge's order to sign marriage certificates for same-sex marriages, saying that religious liberties need to be protected, but still, the clerk's office has to do its job and issue licenses.
"If she has objections, move her to another job inside the government," said Christie. "Give her an option where religious concerns are not put in crosshairs on this. We have to have respect for people, but government has to function."
Fellow GOP candidate Mike Huckabee is planning a rally on Tuesday in Kentucky for Davis, but Christie said he doesn't think politicians should "grandstand" on such things.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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