With his surprise endorsement of Donald Trump, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is choking down sizable helpings of criticism the billionaire developer has gleefully lobbed at him.
Last December, Trump lashed out at Christie for his controversial embrace of President Barack Obama as the two surveyed the Garden State's damages from Superstorm Sandy in 2012.
"When I saw it, I said I think he's going to vote for Obama. Honestly, it was terrible. That was where they had the flood, they had the hurricane and Obama went to New Jersey and… he was like a little child, Christie," Trump commented.
"I don't call it a hug — I call it a hug mentally," he said. "It was unbelievable. He was like a little boy: 'Oh, I'm with the president!' Remember, he flew in the helicopter and he was all excited … I said, I would have put you in my helicopter — it's much nicer."
That same month, appearing in South Carolina, Trump implied Christie was a liar for insisting he was oblivious of the planning and execution of "Bridgegate," in which his top aides exacted political revenge with a massive traffic jam at the George Washington Bridge.
"Does anybody believe that, honestly? Is there 1 percent chance?" Trump asked. "Look, here's the story: The George Washington Bridge, he knew about it. Hey, how do you have breakfast with people every day of your lives. They're closing up the largest bridge in the world.
"They never said, 'Hey boss, we're closing up the George Washington Bridge tonight.' No, they never said that. They're talking about the weather, right? So he knew about it. Totally knew about it."
Trump also criticized Christie's long stretches out of his "deeply troubled" state to campaign for the GOP presidential nomination, tweeting that "New Jerseyans [are] not happy!"
"Credit rating firms have downgraded the state nine times under Mr. Christie's watch, and New Jersey's job-recovery rate from the recession trails the national average. 'Nine downgrades. It's a disaster,'" Trump said.
"I have property over there, the taxes are through [the roof.] I'll use an expression: coming out of my ears, OK? Tremendous taxes over there."
Christie, who suspended his White House bid earlier this month after he came in a dismal sixth place in the New Hampshire primary, has taken plenty of shots at Trump himself.
"We are not electing an entertainer-in-chief. Showmanship is fun, but it's not the type of leadership that will truly change America," Christie told supporters at New Hampshire campaign stop last month.
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