now, how about tonight's program? are you ready? okay, great. so to many to many people chris christie is known as governor abc abc news analyst national spokesperson and also new york times bestselling author. mary patrick christie also has the career that extends beyond our borders here in midland township having been successful career on wall street as well as as well as holding the holding the title of first lady and quitting itself very well with doing a number of programs to across the state and was we're always very well received. but in these parts, the christie's is simply friends families neighbors and fellow coaches. so we're pleased to have them, you know pleased to have them in

our community. as a matter of fact, it was just three years ago almost three years ago when chris christie's first book came out. let me finish that he was gracious and did a fundraise on our behalf. we held that crosstown at the high school and that was actually a sold that event on a very brisk february february evening. a police to say that with the second book when chris had was agreeable to do a fundraiser. we jumped for joy with it and obviously myself and my fellow board members said let's go for it. and here we are again both that evening three years ago and tonight or sellouts so you could say that tonight's probably as tough a ticket as a chris christie book signing. it's probably as tougher ticket ticket as hamilton on broadway. so our evening's program mary pat will moderate crystal try to answer the questions. maybe try to get around the questions. we don't know yet and then we're going to have some q&a. there's a mic right here in the center for everyone to jump up and ask their questions and then that's you know, please don't be bashful and ask questions. so without further ado i present

mary pat and chris christie. here thank you, peter. want to make sure i don't have any feedback on this but but this is really really great. this is a nice a nice cozy group and and i just wanted to say thank you to peter and the board the library's been an important part of our our life and our families life for the last 30 years, which is amazing. we've been here for 30 years. so we really we really appreciate all that the libraries do and i actually just paid a fine a $40 fine to the library to two weeks ago. i had to pick up a book and i guess i hadn't been in a couple years. um, so i my $40 fine.

you don't even want to know. it was a book club book anyway, so, um well, thank you to everybody for coming out here. it's really it's been an interesting journey these last i guess six or seven months that it's taking you to to write this book and what i wanted to start out was to ask chris why he wrote it and also ask him to tell you us a little bit the process of writing it. sure. well, thanks everybody for being here tonight. it's great to be home. i've been on the road for most of the last two and a half weeks except for a couple days around thanksgiving on a book tour where i've been in new york and chicago los angeles and washington and so it's been it's been a busy. it's been a busy few weeks and it's good to to have my last official book event at home. so, thank you all for coming out tonight. i decided to write the book mary pat and i went away for a few

days after joe biden's inaugural. i i did the abc commentary on president biden's inaugural and then we decided to take a few days down to florida to relax after what had been a really much more grueling than normal tv schedule because of all the craziness surrounding the election how long it took for the results to come and all the rest. so we went down to florida for a few days. and i was sitting at the pool and thinking to myself that you know, this is probably one of the worst two years the republican party had had in a long time. we lost the majority of the house representatives in 2018. and then we lose the senate and the white house in 2020. and i thought it struck me as somebody who's obviously been involved in stuff for a long time that it may have been one of the worst times we ever had and so sitting by the pool, i then got on my laptop and kind of looked it up. it's only happened twice. to the republican party since our founding in 1860.

of the last time after this one 1930 to 1932. when herbert hoover was president united states, he lost the house the senate the white house within two years. and what happened after that was the democrats had the white house for 28 of the next 36 years. and so it struck me that. maybe somebody who had been a you know. very big oil supporter of president trump's needed to write a book about how we start to win again. if someone who had been opposed to president trump all the way through and there are a number of republicans. who who were i don't think they would have credibility in writing this book. people i think would have dismissed it. but i had real concerns about where our party was headed. direction we were going in and the immediate aftermath of the election. and i had ideas about you know, what we needed to do to get back on track. so process of writing a book is

you pitch the book? to publishers and we had a couple publishers who were interested, but all of them said if you're gonna write that kind of book the first part of the book has to be about your interaction with the president in the last year and a half of the administration after let me finish the first book ended. through to his leaving office in january. so when you when you get a chance to read the book if you haven't already. is the first third of the book? is kind of a recounting of stories and incidents that happen with me in the president. and that's where i started the writing of the book now. i have a collaborator on the book ellis hannigan, who was my collaborator on the first book as well. and ellis ellis, and i have a process we use in writing the book the way we do it is we get together. we agree on which topics are going to be discussing that day. he takes out of tape recorder. he starts asking me questions and i start talking.

then there is a poor woman out in kansas who has to transcribe all of that. she then sends the transcriptions back to me and to ellis and then we craft chapters out of the transit out of the transcriptions. then when we get done with that, there's another poor woman who then has to do the research to make sure that everything that we say that we're completely sure of. is actually true. and and i'll give you one example from let me finish. where i would have absolutely sworn that this was a correct recollection. i had a good friend of mine in high school. who was murdered? and i was telling that story to ellis at that time and he said when it's happened i said it was the he had day before school started my senior year in high school. so we write the book and and write that that chapter the and and then comes back and he says

are you sure it was the day before? will start for senior year i said, absolutely sure. i remember it like it was yesterday. you really sure. yeah. well this woman found. the front page of our local weekly paper in livingston and it was actually the day before the starting of school my junior year. not my senior year i guarantee you. if you all put a gun to my head. and said if you're wrong, we're going to blow your brains out. i would have said go ahead because i know it i absolutely know it. so roberta plays a really integral role in the process by researching everything that we talk about and make sure that we have it right first and foremost for the integrity of the book and then second the lawyers at simon and schuster want to make sure that we don't say something. that's so blatantly wrong that all of us will get sued so then chapter by chapter comes in we're working on it together. i'm doing a lot of editing and changing. i'm so maybe his initial

language into my voice. and we probably go back and forth on each chapter two to three times. where he makes suggestions i make suggestions and we're volleying it back and forth by email. and and then we get the manuscript done and we send it to our editor. at simon & schuster she then will send it back to us with notes in the margins. things she wants us to explain more things that she wants us to add. and in this instance, we are on a very tight. deadline because to get to start a book when we started this in march. to have it out by november is apparently like land speed records for publishing now. i don't get that but i don't want to argue with the publisher because they're paying me so i'm gonna argue with them. so we were working really quickly. we got to her stuff. she then decided she wanted. another additional chapter on

something and she sent this to us by email and ellis called me and said did you read natasha's latest email? and i said, no not yet because don't. don't i'm going to break it to you gently she wants another chapter. and so literally what we did was we were on the phone with each other and i said on what and it was a chapter on? no, it's not covid policy. and we talked about covid a lot in the book in the first part in my experience with covid. i'm sure we'll get to that but this is on what should our policy be going forward on how to deal with it. i really think you need to do a chapter on that. so, okay, and by the way, and i need it. in two days so ellis i said dallas. all right. turn on your tape recorder. we don't have time to get together like turn it on and let's go and we just started to go and within the two days we had that last chapter done and then the last thing you do is

you write the dedication. and the acknowledgments until you see the dedication in the front of the book is to our four children and the acknowledgments in the back are a whole lot of people who contributed to helping me with the book or just contributed to helping me in this part of my life and career. so that's the way you write a book and believe me when you're finally done with the acknowledgments and you hit send and they acknowledge. they've received it. you don't want to see it again. you don't want to so you don't want to see the book until it looks like that and when it does all you redo is look at the cover and the title page which you sign and i i have not. looked at the text. since late august when i when i sent it back out. yeah, and you also chris also did an audiobook so that was a painful like 25 hour experience, i believe and then the other thing some of us read it and edited it. i'm just going to tell a little insight story that the cover is

the elephant with the life preserver. it originally had a red cross on it, but the red cross opposed that yeah, it was holding. it was holding a red cross flag in a trunk and the red cross wouldn't give us permission to use it on the cover. so we had to go to the red and white life preserver, which which i think is great but on the final copy the the little elephant on the side had still had the red cross flag. and i flagged it she did very pat bought it i sent it to i go here's where the cover looks and she it's wait a second. the elephant on the side has the flag that will tell you what -- the red cross. yeah that that will tell you how little i wanted to look at this anymore. i say, all right, whatever. yeah, go ahead five will tell them so but it was good catch because we probably would have gotten sued by the red cross. so good good miss on that so that's the process of of the way at least i've i've written this book and and pretty much the same process the last time for let me finish as well. that's great. well, chris is a student of

history loves history and i'm part of this book. there's a lot of history and it actually talked to talk to the audience about the fact that we go over conspiracy stories and why it's so important to review history and in particular the john birch society and i think they might find that interesting to know that background, you know when i started talk about the idea of and make the argument for why? engaging in and spending any more time on all these different conspiracy theories that have been out there q and on pizza gate birtherism and the election stuff i thought i had a place in some historical context like this is not the first time we've gone through this. as a country or as a party. so i write extensively a pretty large chapter on the john birch society. which in the late 50s and early 60s became a force inside the republican party.

very much one that had an anti-semitic strain to it. it ran in through a number of conspiracy theories in that regard and became a real force inside the republican party. and william f buckley was the founder of national review magazine have a thought leader in the conservative movement was horribly disturbed by these developments and by the development of seeing how prominent the john birch society was becoming in our in republican party politics. so he approached barry goldwater. and knowing that goldwater was considering running for president in 1964 and said the goldwater look. we should do this together. and push back on these people and if we do so together, i think we could have a real impact on the party. so let's i'll write the first editorial. in the national review and then you write a letter to the editor

to the national review supporting the editorial. goldwater agrees and and buckley writes a 4,000 word editorial. the national review about why the john birch society is so bad for america and so bad for the republican party talks in depth about the anti-semitism and why that's so bad. goldwater was this out? no other way to put it. he starts to get pressure back. from john birchers inside the republican party. he's worried that if he does this he won't win the nomination in 1964. and so he writes back a very very short week. letter to buckley which is nothing like what they had agreed upon. so buckley decides that he's not going to publish it at first. and he goes to somebody else. see who has credibility to conservative movement to see if

he'll back buckley up on this. he went to ronald reagan. who at that time was not even an elected official? he had given a speech in 1964 on behalf of goldwater. early on called run it was the speech was entitled rendezvous with destiny. and reagan it become a very popular figure inside the conservative movement because of this speech. he would be elected two years later in 1966 as governor, california, but reagan stood up and wrote a long impassioned letter. as a former democrat as to why he thought the birchers were not somebody that we should be embracing or empowering inside the republican party. and it absolutely did the trick. goldwater ran in you you may remember goldwater's speech at the convention one of the most famous lines was extremism in the defense of liberty is no

vice. that's directly john birch language. and he lost monumentally. in fact a little morris county historical note barry goldwater was the last republican. to lose morris county for president until donald trump in 2020 from 64 to 2020 mars county voted for every republican presidential candidate. they rejected goldwater. and they rejected trump in 2020. and and i think there's an interesting i didn't put it in the book because nobody would really care about that historical comparison, but this audience will and i think it says something about historical comparison that we're making so i think it's it's an interesting chapter to place the chapters that follow into context. which is whether you're talking about birtherism or qanon or pizza gate or the election?

conspiracies that we're not in a unique time. i i hate when i hear commentators on television say we are in the most dangerous time in the history of this country where more divided than we've ever been in our history. now. i had someone say that abc one day and and then george came to me and i said, i don't know. seems to me the civil war was probably a time when we were more divided. you know, then we are then we are now. just a random thought but you know, maybe we could check a little common sense into all hyperbole and the reason for historical context is to tell you we've been here before and remember what happened after that. after that, we won the presidency five of the next six times. between 1968 and 1992 so the republican party recovered they became once again a national force at the presidential level because we got back to basics.

and that's part of what the book's all about. that's great along those same lines as history repeats itself. i love when you were doing debate prep with the the president and you went into debate prep with reams of examples of articles from previous presidents incumbent presidents. tell the audience what you told president trump and well why why your advice was prescient president? i did debate prep for 2016. i i watch it all the close your eyes and picture this for a moment. i played hillary clinton. in debate prepared 2016 and and i i didn't do the first debate in 2016. he had like the cast of ben-hur, you know prepping him for that first debate and his performance kind of reflected that and after the first debate. he called me and he said look

will you do debate preparing for the second debate? and i said only if i'm in charge of it and only if i get to decide who's in the room because if we're gonna have every tom -- and harry in the room, room, i don't care to play. and he said you're in charge. so we did the bay prep for him in 2016 for the second and the third debate and just one quick aside. i didn't go to the second debate. we went to the first one, but we didn't go to the second one and we watched the second debate at home. and seven or eight minutes after the debate was over. he got done shaking hands on the stage and taking pictures my phone rang and it was donald trump. and he said to me. my because you're so great. that was so easy. he goes it was so easy compared to debating you. it was great. he's better hillary clinton. he said yours. you're a better hillary than she is. he said so you're gonna do debate three, right? yeah, mr. prayer donald.

yes. so 2020 comes in his staff comes to me his chief of staff at the time was mark meadows. and jared kushner his son-in-law who if you read the first book is a dear friend of mine. i came to me and said we watch you back in charge of debate prep again. so does the president this now in july? and they go we want to start this weekend. the first debate was late september and i said to them he's not gonna like this. it's too early. they go. no, no, he needs a lot of work i go. i know he needs a lot of work, but but he's not gonna like this and they insisted that they had spoken to him. and that he was fine with it. and three o'clock on saturday in bedminster. okay, so president united states watching to come you go. so i show up we're sitting in the conference room at on the first floor of the clubhouse in bedminster and in walks the

president from his round of golf. and he sits down and i'm sitting in the chair across from him. he sits down. he looks at me goes what the hell are you doing here? and i said debate prep and he goes are you kidding me? he said debate prep in july for the end of september. how stupid do you think i am? of looking now at jared and at meadows, we're both in the room are like thanks. i just knew that this was a setup. i knew they hadn't spoken to him because they didn't have the guts to talk to him and they just figured, you know, i charm him. so i had prepared for his mary pat said and i went back and since the modern era presidential debates restarted in 1976 she had debate beach debates between and nixon in 1960. and then there were no debates in 64 68 or 72. and then at 76 gerald ford was

way behind jimmy carter in the race coming out of the conventions. so he agreed that debates with carter. so that's started the modern era now ever since then there have been presidential debates every four years. but what i brought him were articles that i printed out. from 76 from 80 84 92 96 2004 and 2012 those were the elections when there was an incumbent president. seeking re-election or election and gerald ford's case. and in every one of them. the president the incumbent president lost the first debate. every time and i went back and spoke to some of the folks who prepped. those presidents for the debates.

i called them they all knew i was doing trump and so i called them and they all told me the same thing which i suspected which was presidents don't want to prep. because they're president. they're like you know, i'm the president. oh i need to prepare for a debate for i am the president. now this this guy or woman over here, they don't know the presidency. i know the presidency. i'm the president. so what i sat down i said we need to start now mr. president. and he said i mean no joke he goes. tell the wife to prepare for i'm president. i'm like, that's so great, right? so i go into my briefcase and i take out a stack article this thick and i said i toss them across the table to them. and i said i want i said debate prep is over. i said we're not doing anything else today. so i want you to do is go back tonight and read those articles. and then i'll see you next time. you want you want to see me? and i got up. and jared in middleburg. well, maybe we should just talk

in general about kind of biden style. and i said you guys can talk about biden style. i said read the articles mr. president and he said what are they about? and i said how every incumbent president lost because they thought they didn't need to prepare because they were president sound familiar. and he said, is that true? which is also another indication to you about kind of the the depth of historical knowledge. of donald trump about politics. i mean, he just doesn't have any and so this was all news to him and i gave it to him and i walked out and jared and meadows followed me out to the front of the club and bedminster. and i looked up and i go. you guys like? you're so fully --. um, you never talked to it right? you never talk to him. and of course they denied and said they did but you know, the guy was clearly surprised to see me there and didn't want to do prep so, you know, he read those articles. of course, he did not follow any of the advice, but he read the articles because he called me a

couple of days later. and here was the conclusion he drew from that. he said he goes those other guys are so bad. i can't believe how bad all of them were. i'm not gonna be like that chris. i'm gonna be really good. okay, mr. president, you got it. yeah, he didn't go he must not have been a boy scout being prepared was not his yeah. okay. yeah, we could go into the preparation for the debates, but it was 16 was difficult. because in the midst right at the end of the prep for the second debate access hollywood happens right, so i'm i'm in the middle of prepping him. on the friday afternoon before the sunday debate. and in came as press secretary with the transcript of the access hollywood tape that kind of derailed us for a little while. i made it difficult, but he was very receptive to preparation in 2016.

and because he knew even though he wouldn't admit that he lost the first debate. he knew he lost the first debate and he didn't want to lose again. he's very receptive to preparation. he he was much less receptive in 2020. so moving on to different topic but something the book really talks a lot about is all these conspiracies theories, but talk to this audience in the way you do so well about where the proof is that obviously donald trump lost the election, but but get some specifics about the suburban women and where he lost votes and how he actually gained votes in the cities. yeah, well like if you listen to the president talk about this. has a number of different theories. about why the election was stolen? and what you'll learn after reading and the way i try to approach it. in the book is in my job two jobs ago. not my last job. i try not to learn right like the governor.

i try to write like the united states attorney. and and i take the approach of if i had to prove this. in court what would i do? because that's what i'm trying to do to all of you. are trying to set you have any doubts about this. i want to address those issues. lay out the facts and then let you draw your own conclusion. but obviously i'm taking it from the perspective of i believe the evidence. supports as i did when i was us attorney if i'm bringing a case, i think obviously the evidence supports the case. i'm bringing so a few things one of the theories is that the election was stolen from him in, pennsylvania in philadelphia. and it was stolen from him in michigan in detroit. you've heard him say this. oh the the boxes of ballots who showed up in the middle of the night in detroit and it philadelphia, you know, they were filling out ballots there that you know, no one no one was accounted for there were ballots than people. registered to vote. you've heard all these things.

well we go through what the part the registration numbers are in, pennsylvania. and how there were significantly fewer people who voted than who were actually registered to vote in, pennsylvania. we look at philadelphia. philadelphia donald trump actually got 3% more of the vote. in 2020 that he did in 2016. in the city of philadelphia and joe biden got 1% less of the vote. in philadelphia then hillary clinton did i would argue to you. that's a very unsuccessful steel job. when you let the guy you're trying to steal from get three percent more and the guy you're trying to steal four get one percent less. so illogical each they didn't steal it. now the other thing you'll hear about pennsylvania is wait a second when i went to bed. donald trump was winning, pennsylvania by 700,000 votes. and then i wake up. and he's losing by 80,000 votes. they stole it.

no. we had a very unusual election in 2020 because we had the most mail-in ballots ever used in the history of our presidential election and each state. decided differently how they were going to count the votes in what order? so for instance in ohio. when you went to bed. and looked at, ohio. joe biden was winning, ohio. when you woke up. donald trump won ohio by nine points by the same, pennsylvania theory trump still, ohio from biden now here's what happened. in ohio they counted the mail-in ballots first. the male and ballots were overwhelmingly across the country and in some places 70 to 75% democrat. for two reasons one democrats were generally more fearful of covid than republicans.

so they were more fearful to go out to a polling place and vote in person. secondly, donald trump said all summer and all fall. talent ballots are rigged. don't don't trust me. i'm in ballots vote on election day. so republican voters listen to the leader of the party. and they didn't vote by mail. they voted at the machines that day. so in ohio, they voted they counted all the mailing votes first. biden was up by seven points. we're watching an abc because we didn't know which way they were doing it until we started ask them questions. so we're going to abc say was joe biden wouldn't ohio? by seven well, then they count the machine votes in ohio, and it was a 16 point swing. trump went from down up down seven to up nine. the one by nine in pennsylvania, it was the exact opposite. pennsylvania they decided to count the machine votes first.

hence, donald trump's up by 700,000 votes then they can't mail in votes. and he loses by 80 in, pennsylvania. a very similar swing in terms of numbers and percentage that you saw in ohio, but going trump's favor. lastly in pennsylvania something was in stark relief that happened all across the country and i would suggest to you. is why donald trump was the first republican presidential candidate since barry goldwater to lose morris county. the collar counties outside, philadelphia for suburban county's outside, philadelphia chester county, delaware county montgomery county outside, what's the chester delaware montgomery bucks right box in in 2016 versus 2020 donald trump lost those four counties by a hundred and four thousand more votes. to joe biden then he lost the

hillary clinton. he lost both times. but he lost by 104,000 votes more. in those four suburban counties that he did in 2016. he lost the entire state by 80. so if you need to know why donald trump lost, pennsylvania. he lost pennsylvania for the same reason he lost morris county. white educated suburban voters who gave him a chance of 2016? largely abandoned him in 2020 and i am sure in this town. and your friends across the county. and in a greater percentage by women than men. but both both women and men suburban white educated voted far less for trump in 2020, and he didn't 2016. but could apply to yourself. if you apply to friends of yours you've spoken to. but there's no question. that that's what happened to him. that's where he lost in, michigan.

that's where he lost in, wisconsin. over and over again. it was those suburbs outside milwaukee outside detroit outside, philadelphia. who had voted forum in 2016 and did not. and i talked about one anecdotal. the story in the book with a woman who shall remain nameless because she lives in this town who had been a volunteer for both of my gubernatorial campaigns and she saw me in kings the day before the election. let's go through. she said governor what's going to happen tomorrow? and i said look, i think to be a lot closer than people think but i think biden's gonna win. that's kind of look down at her shoes and sort of shaking her head. now. i knew this woman was a really strong republican. she had worked for me twice both times for governor. and i said all i know. disappointed. i'm sorry because oh no i voted for biden. and i looked and i said you voted for by. why? and she said governor.

i couldn't listen to that voice for another. so part of what we need to understand and this is why it's so difficult for donald trump to accept this. because it was not a rejection of his policies. it was a rejection of him personally. by a group of voters who had been with him four years earlier? and i can tell you somebody's been on the ballot in one. and somebody's been valid and lost. first of all winning is much better. and secondly losing his intensely personal you know politics different than sports. sports you could have a good day or a bad day. sometimes you win. sometimes the other person is better. they have a better day. it doesn't mean that you're rejected. it just means that that day the other guy was better. the other woman was better. in politics they looked at you. and they looked at the other

person and went now i'll take them. i don't want you. it is i could tell you from having felt it. it's intensely personal. and so when people wonder why donald trump is having such a hard time. accepting this in part not in whole but in part. it's because he knows. what i just said is absolutely true. and that it was a personal. rejection and we go through all of the other i give you just a sample, but there's a number of other. arizona, you know all the different, georgia different places you argues about so that's a good segue into what will be my last question for you and then we'll take some questions from the audience, but tell us your view. there's right now an effort in the legislation legislature to federalize voting rights and voting systems rather. can you tell us your view on federalizing that the voting laws and what? you would do.

well look in congress. they want a federalized all the rules. of voting i have to tell you you don't want to live in my opinion under that system. each state is different. how we could ever think that voting rules? that would be good for wyoming? will be good for new jersey. um when wyoming is the least densely state in america? new jersey is the most densely populated state in america. challenges that we face in voting the accommodations we have to make are significantly different secondly. the constitution i think is pretty clear on this. that these decisions are supposed to be made by each individual state. and you know i go back to third. the federal government's running it what what could possibly go wrong? right. i mean imagine that the federal governments could be in charge

charge of counting all the votes. so instead of having all the really great people that we have in the firehouse. when we go there as volunteers. paid a little bit but not paying nearly as much as they should be to sit there all day and help us vote. imagine those people all get replaced. federal employees come in. yeah. i don't think so. and so, you know. what we need to do is like look at what happened to morris county how long it took us to count the vote. here's why? because usually you have like 10 or 12,000 paper ballots and every other time it's all on the machines. well this time we had. a huge multiple that almost 200,000 paper ballots. they have the same number of machines to count the paper ballots. as they did when we was 10,000. because they couldn't get ready that quickly. they didn't know covid covid comes in march of 20.

you can't order those machines to get them here by november of 20 even if you wanted to. so one of the things that i think that all of us in this state in particular given a number of voters we have but all across the country need to do is not assume that we're going to go back in 2022 or 2024. to a very small amount of mail-in ballots i think some people have gotten used to that they like it. it's convenient for them. and i think we're gonna have a lot more mail-in voting over time. so we better get more machines. to count these votes because the other reason why we have so many conspiracy theories is the longer it takes for us to tell you who won the more you're wondering. what the hell are they up to? who's messing around with this and it's just an and i talk about that a little bit the book that it's a natural american thing. it goes all the way back to the founding of the country, right? that there's been conspiracy theories about politics.

throughout our founding and that's what happens to the free society where people get to express their opinions. their opinions don't have to be right. they just have to be opinions and they get to express them. and i always remember, you know what brendan byrne used to say. i had a lot of fun with governor byrne. i miss him. he was one of the funniest people i've ever met and one of the lines he used to use all the time was i made my wife ruthie promise that when i die that she'll bury me in hudson county so i can remain active in politics. so i want to make clear to you and i say this in the book. i'm not saying that irregularities did not happen on election day this year they did. and by the way, they happen in, new jersey. few months ago and they happen in new jersey when i ran in 09. and in 13 it happens all the time. the question is are there enough for regularities to change the results of the election in any one state?

let alone the five states. that would have been necessary to change the result of the election. and that i think we've proven the book is just you know not possible. so, you know, that's i think an important thing to remember. and if you think you don't trust the county clerk in morris county to count the votes. wait to some federal bureaucrat is counting your vote. forget it conspiracy. theories will be tripled and quadrupled and to that scenario. at least we know who anne crossy is and if and you know, if we think ann's messing around we can kick her out. you're not going to get rid of a federal bureaucrat who's in charge of the election process. thank you for explaining that. emphasizing it so i think if anybody has questions, then we can move to the audience. yeah, so biker there's a microphone right in the middle. oh. and i think we need to use the microphone not because i can't hear you without it.

but because the tv guys were here tonight. sorry, thank you. my question is if the biden administration continues to have some headwinds. do you think mainstream media will turn against them? well, i'll say this. not completely against them. no because look the mainstream media in this country. is slanted towards the left. i mean, there's just there can't be any question about that anymore. right? in fact, they're almost playing it up. um, watch watch me on sundays. it is almost never. not three to one. without doing that round table on abc it is almost always three to one. every once in a while, they run a poor republican in there to sit with me but most of the time. it's three to one and that's even on one of the networks if you go to the news networks. they revel in their slant right

cnn and msabc are reveling in a leftward slant. they think that's as profitable for them and fox rebels in a rightward slant. and so, you know i say to folks all the time. you should watch a little bit of both. just so you realize. that there are really two different worlds. we're living in right now. two different ways to look at issues. and most of the time you're going to come back to the way you think about things, but that's why you know, if you if you look at the at the bottom of our driveway our kids. jesus endlessly about this that we still get actual newspapers. our kids are like are you kidding? we get a newspaper for like just go on your phone, but we still get them if you look at the bottom of our driveway on corey lane. there's three newspapers every day. the wall street journal to give us the conservative side of things the new york times so i know what the enemy is thinking. and the new york post just have

fun. so you know, i think you should get a taste and same thing with mainstream media on tv as well. i i painfully watch not i because i don't watch this stuff every night, but when i do watch i go back and forth between cnn, i don't care what i can't watch msnbc. i have to be honest. i can't it's just too much for me, but i'll go back and forth between cnn and fox. because i want to see how whatever the big stories of the day are how they cover them differently and what you're going to find is they cover them completely differently. and the emphasize which stories? you know, so so to be there'll be a day like where let's say. there's a big story on wall street. and there's a big story in washington dc. cnn will cover the washington dc story and they will cover it with nothing but democratic the house and senate.

and democratic pundits commenting on it. fox news won't cover the washington story unless it's really big. they won't cover the wall street story either. they'll cover immigration. um, and they'll be they'll be stories about immigration in the border and then it gets those stories and the second and thirdly so everybody's taking a different approach of things and i think it's really to watch all of it. as a bunch of it as you can put up with. because it helps to inform immediately. at least we're not talking to people on the other side. as to why they think some of the things they think and they fake it because that's what they're hearing and the news they're watching so i don't think we have any hope of them playing it down the middle. i think those days are over. hey, i happen to think one of the biggest failings if not the biggest failing of the country. is the state of inner city public schools? i think it creates a generation of failure. and i know why the democratic

the lines of people desperate to get their kids into charter schools and anything to not go to the public school that they're at. why hasn't it taken hold in the populations who live there to get behind school choice school vouchers charter schools. because the party that they're voting for is entrenched in absolutely not supporting that and then the cycle is is perpetuated and it never gets better. i just i can't understand why. that population hasn't moved to the to the school choice argument to the charter school argument, which is you know. the can't be supported by the other party. i would say there's two reasons. the first one is have it. you know. folks in the inner cities have gotten into the habit of voting democrat. and and they just have a hard time breaking that habit. unless 0.2.

republicans aggressively campaign there and make the argument i would tell you that i think in the main our party has done allows each job. or make that argument. republicans many of them tend to be uncomfortable. going into those communities. and making those arguments. and i think it's foolhardy. if you look at what happened with me in 2013. after four years of arguing hard that public education was failing the very children you're talking about and arguing why and authorizing more charter schools than any governor ever has and all of that. what happened? we got more votes in newark. and irvington and jersey city. we won bayonne. we won union city. we got 62% of the vote in union city, new jersey. in 2013 what i tried to argue to

republicans all across the country is you got to go to places you're uncomfortable in and go to those places to make the arguments that you know that that group of voters needs to hear and to me you're right that the education issue. and virginia just showed this. the education issue will cut across party. parents care most about their children and they walk their children to get a good education. and i will tell you that the biggest supporters i had in 2013 in the cities where the pastors of most of the major churches. in places like newark and camden and trenton and patterson. of all the nominations including imams in in muslim mosques in places like patterson and camden. because they say to me when i was governor. we're tired. of seeing the children who sit in our pews.

every sunday constantly be failed by this public school system. now the reason that it doesn't take hold 2.3. is that the teacher's unions across this country? spend an exorbitant amount of money. in making sure that it doesn't. and so like i hear now in our state. and i hear our current governor. touting that we have the best schools in america. okay for some kids. that he's the democrat. who's supposed to be the one who cares more? about the underprivileged yet. he won't say one word. about the failure in our urban schools because to do that would run counter to his patrons in the teacher's union. and you all saw when i ran against the page the teachers union 09 and 10 and 11. they beat me senseless.

the money they spent was extraordinary. and i one aside to end it on. more upbeat funny note in 2010 fall 2010 we were in the midst of the first big fight with the teachers union. be very patent all four children were in one of the the suvs with the troopers going someplace. i don't remember where but we were on the turnpike. and we've gotten through got off the exit we're going through the toll. and up to the left was one of those big turnpike billboards. and it was a picture of me. and it said chris christie hates children. and it was an awful picture. i mean awful picture me, right? at that time our son patrick who for those of you here who know our family our son patrick who is definitely the straw that serves the drink in our house. he was 10 years old at the time. hey, i didn't know that they'd

notice that i saw it and i hoping they didn't see it. and so patrick is hey dad, so he goes your people have to get better pictures of you. and i said patrick. did you read what the billboard said? those are not my people and he goes i don't know dad. it was a really bad picture. so that's another reason it happens as well. hi governor, christie, sir. you brought up governor byrne and hudson county. so i'm compelled to tell a story sure that goes back to 1985 when brennan byrne and ed broderick cured. morristown was supporting a democratic for senator. and he happened to have a fundraiser down in princeton, new jersey at the time. and brandon byrne gets up and he looks at bradley. and he says, you know. i don't understand why you happen to be running as a democrat.

because most of the democrats i know from hudson county follow the same pattern they get elected they get indicted and they get sentenced. i had the similar experience of my old job. yes on another note. i wanted to ask you about october 22nd in 2020 at an event that you happen to be there, which was the sort of garden party preceding the debate between biden and trump and i think we all know what happened subsequent to that garden party namely that trump obviously tested positive for the covid. and there were all sorts of supporters of trump sitting in those chairs your self included. picks among others. how do you feel that at the time which he knew that he had the coronavirus? how do you feel about trump now a gentleman who you supported,

you know for president in terms of his loyalty to his closest associates. and putting them essentially in peril, you know as a result of this subsequent test that he had for testing positive. yeah. well, i'll say a few things about that just kind of gently correct the record a little bit. my understanding is that he tested positive the next day. um, what i've read now. doesn't change the thesis of your question, except it changes it for what happened the day before? the day before everybody who was sitting there. i don't believe by the way that that event was a super spreader event. it's been called that. but the people who got covid in the main there are only three people. who were at that party who got covid? who? we're not involved in debate prep. and one of them was father

jenkins of notre dame there were two others. i'm absolutely convinced that we all got covid in debate prep. so seven of us at debate prep, including the president and six of us got covid now. it is disturbing to me and to mary pat. to have heard for the first time a day or two ago. in mark meadows' book that the president tested positive for covid. prior to him sitting closer than i am to you. four days and preparing him for for the debates and you know, there's a story in the book. about after i was in the i got put in the hospital. he was in the hospital as well. and he called me and in this story now makes much more sense to me. that it did anytime up to two days ago. he called me and said how are you doing? and and i said not well. is really bad and you sound bad

too because you know, he goes into his normal stuff because can you believe too tough guys like us? got this thing. we're so tough. how could this have gotten us? we're like the two toughest guys in america. and they get this thing. i don't understand it. i say i don't know either mr. president. he then got to the point of the call. said so how do you think you got it? and so i don't know mr. president. i said a pretty confident. i got it at the white house i said but since six of the seven of us got it. like who knows who patients zero was i yeah, i don't know but i say that obviously got it in the white house. he then said to me, you're gonna blame it on me. are you? and i said to him well, why would i blame it on you? i don't know that you're the one who gave it to me. i mean it happened in that room, but i don't know you're sick, too. i don't know who gave it to me because you're not gonna tell the press that i gave it to you. and so i wouldn't say that because i don't know that it's

true. now up until two days ago. my thought process on that was that that was just donald trump's paranoia. that he didn't want to be blamed. i was always a little bit suspicious because every one of us beside him. got tested every day before we went in. it's like what the process was during that time. you went to the gate at the white house you got admitted someone escorted you. to the eisenhower and that's where the medical unit is you'd go into the medical unit. they'd swab you you sat there for 15 minutes. they got the result of the test if you were negative you were then authorized to go over to the west wing. so i was always a little bit. suspicious as to whether you know one of us got a false positive. false negative rather or or whether it was him because he was the only one we didn't know. whether he was getting tested every day or not. we wouldn't know he's the

president. so yeah, i mean look i think for me and mary pat, especially, how bad my experience with covid was and you know in the intensive care unit for seven days. and you know a couple of moments really feeling like it was going to go the wrong way. you know. finding that out a couple days ago. if in fact what meadow says is true because he tries to hedge it a little bit, you know in the book. he says that he got a negative test after that and you know, so they weren't sure whether they had enough but at a minimum what we were owed. everybody in that room. it was me bill stepion. kellyanne conway stephen miller. hope hicks. and and the other miller that's i said stephen. it's the other miller. just jason miller. who's the only one who didn't get it? so presumably he's owed nothing but the rest of us were all owed

to be told that. because i will tell you this we all would have worn masks if we were. we didn't wear masks because we said world contested every day. and that's why i wasn't wearing a mask at that event because every person who was sitting at that amy coney barrett event. all had been tested before they were allowed to come in. and all it tested negative so but what i said afterwards and whatever the president did. he's got to live with his own conscience. and and i can't i i'm not gonna be able to impose guilt onto him. he's he's gonna feel it or not about what he did if he's in fact was positive to all of us. but but what i will tell you is that for me i said this after i got out of the hospital. it was a mistake for me not to wear the mask. i became convinced. that i was in a safe zone because all of us have been tested and i was wrong.

now i now i probably know why i was wrong. i didn't know then but regardless i probably should just worn the mask the whole time. it just would have been an extra layer of safety for me. and and that's why i said the stuff i said afterwards but yeah as you might imagine when when mary pat and i both saw that pop up on our phones earlier this week early in the morning. we had an interesting reaction. thank you. thank you, sir. thank you governor for the book welcome. so as you mentioned the irregularities on in election that you agree that they're wearing irregularities. so don't you believe that? the democratic developed a system and that they are implementing it for the town they control. and then mail in ballot and they use the using the system and somehow that we definitely have to be concerned about. and that same happened to donald trump and same happened to i

think and you just the governor election here i done for election so i know certain areas certain areas with it highly controlled by the democratic and they do all the things to influence mailing board and there's a lot of fraud going on so doing that and also they're using the machinery especially school system to teach our kids and when they graduate they become 90% democratic so it's just a system. it's a corruption and if we're not gonna stand up against all republicans and we say, oh, no, it doesn't exist as much that we need to worry about and i'm feeling that it's actually got to that point. they got the grip and eventually we new jersey, california, illinois. we never gonna get republican ever elected and new jersey has been happening. i mean you got elected you did a great job in two terms, but you see this assembly and senate they know how to win it. they have that recipe will be response to a few things there unpack that.

everything i don't disagree with most of what you just said. except that they didn't steal the presidential election. it's just too hard. i mean seriously think about this for a second you really think joe biden masterminded a nationwide conspiracy to steal votes in six different states to win the prayer. joe biden couldn't mastermind a one-car funeral. let alone mastermind that type of operation and have it be unfound. now yes are are liberals using the educational system in a way to try to indoctrinate our children into a certain thought process. absolutely. it's happening. that's a different fight. and that's a fight we should have. mail-in ballots look, i i support the georgia election law. i support the texas election law because i will tell you a quick story eric this whole idea about not having to show id.

when you go to vote that somehow. being asked to show id is discriminatory. i went to new york city. eight or nine weeks ago and i walk into an office building in new york city. to go to a meeting. i walk up to security guard. says governor. oh, so amazing to see you. i'm such a big fan i said well, thank you. can i come around and take a picture? sure, so he comes around the security desk gets his phone out. we take a selfie. prints out my my visitor pass. can you sign the visitor pass for me? can i have your autograph? i said absolutely. i signed the audit thing he goes back in this because can i see your id? i looked at i said all right out. you're convinced enough. that i may that you took a picture with me and yeah had me give you an autograph. but you still want to see my id he goes.

i'm sorry. it's the rules. okay, i won my wallet. i got my jar so i said gave it to him. if i have to do that. to enter an office building in manhattan to go to a meeting. why shouldn't i have to show the people in the firehouse? my driver's license when i come to vote now, like i'm a bad example because i walk in here and there if they don't know me, it's a problem, right? but i think everybody should have to show an id. i think one of the things i did when i was governor is why you should be less concerned. about the voter roles in this state is i mandated had the attorney general mandate the counties update their voter roles. we knocked a lot of dead people. off the voter rolls a lot of people moved off the voter rolls during my eight years as governor. now it's got to be a constant process because people die all the time and people move all the time, but the voter rolls in new

jersey are in much better shape than they were before lastly on mail and ballots. i i think they're they're going to continue to be a factor. and i don't want republicans complaining about it anymore. we've got to get as good at it as they are. it's not that hard. you know what they do, they send out the ballot. then they send a piece of mail saying hey. you got your ballot. here's how you return it. then they call four or five times. i'd say hey, did you fill out your ballot yet? build your ballot yet then they text you. then they email you. it's not turn out anymore. it's drag out. they drag those votes out of those houses. there's no reason we can't do that. there is no reason we have availability the same technology and all the rest. the only thing that makes a little bit harder is the door-to-door portion of it. because door-to-door and mendham

is a little harder than door-to-dora, jersey city. i've done both. and mendem is much harder, right? so that part of it work always going to be a disadvantage because our voters tend to be in more suburban and rural areas. but i i was at an event a week before the election this year. for senator now senator john bramnick fundraising event for john and a woman raised her hand and asked a question about bill spadia on 101.5 and what are we going to do to combat him? and i looked and i said let me tell you. don't spend any time worrying about bill spadia. i want to 1.5. he's not going to determine any election and i said to her but if jack shoulder readily loses next tuesday. it's going to be caused. we don't know how do mail-in balloting and they do. and it turned out six days later that i was exactly right on the machines. jack generally was elected governor. when you count the mail-in votes, he loses by 75,000 votes.

do i think the election was stolen from jack? i don't and neither does jack. because i've spoken to him about he doesn't. but the bigger point on on your point is we've got a bunch of things we have to do and i talk about it in the book for us to continue to be a competitive viable party. and moaning and complaining and looking in the rearview mirror. at past elections never helps you win the next one. ever voters don't want to hear. about that stuff that's not why they vote for you. last story i'll tell you on that is when i was running for reelection in 2013. right after sandy. we had rebuilt the boardwalk in asbury park. so, you know, we built it in five months. so i'm down there taking a victory lap, you know wonderful re-election. so i'm walking down the boardwalk. guy comes up to me and he says. hey, governor. you're right. you run a free election. i said, yeah, he goes. why i vote for you? i said well look at this

boardwalk. you think we're going to get this done because that's what i got for vote for you last time. what do i get for voting for you next time? voters in the main think about tomorrow not about yesterday. and that's good. that shows where a hopeful country. we think tomorrow can be better than yesterday. and we don't want to dwell on yesterday. we want to look to tomorrow. so our party's got to start doing that. stop the grievance politics. stop the moment and complaining. fight them in the places we could fight fight to get voter id. fight to do better on male and balance fight to make sure that the county's clean up the voter rolls. take those things out of play and then our ideas versus their ideas. i feel like we'll do. okay, and by the way in an election where we lost at the top of the ticket by three points, we picked up six seats in the assembly and a seat in the senate. and a lot of local seats you know except for the top of the ticket. election day was very good for republicans. across the state and i think said to very clear message.

dr. phil murphy but the legislative democrats you watch are going to be much much more reluctant to do what he wants them to do because they all are back up for election in 2023. with a new map that's the last thing redistricting. and that stuff is very different and we've got a map right now. my wife's trying to tell me to stop but we've got a map right now. think about this when i got reelected in 2013. i got 60% of the vote. statewide we didn't pick up one seat in the legislature. if that's not a gerrymandered map. i don't know. what is when the top of the ticket gets 60% of the vote. we don't win one seat underneath. that'll tell you everything you need. so hopefully they're negotiating a new map now we get a better map. we could be in control the legislature in two. thank you. all right, so i always like to say one last question, which i'll say to you one last question, but has has to be a short answer.

all right. well, we'll see. i might think too. just to show people here that you don't run everything. like i definitely don't every once in a while too short answers. look at there's two guys there right? you sure. all right. i'm gonna do these three guys, but i'll make them short answers. i'll make it a straightforward question, too. um, so nice to see you governor mrs. christy. looking forward like we've been talking about a lot tonight at especially the midterms next year and even 24. how do you think the republican party best unites itself nationally where you still have, you know a section of the party that obviously would like to see a new face in 24 and even sooner and another section. that's still very much likes president trump is the glenn yonkin model a good model for everywhere. does it vary? what are your thoughts on that? i follow my wife's admonition. and give a short answer two things.

first never forget the other side unites us like we could never unite ourselves. and by the way say with the democrats. donald trump united the democrats more than the democrats have been united in my lifetime. so remember part of this process is oh my god, what are they doing? we have to stop them. and republicans are willing to put down some of their differences. in order to stop that. the second piece is that we've got to start talking about the things that voters care about. elections aren't about the about what the candidate thinks is important. they're about what the voters think are important and what that candidate thinks about what the voters think is important. and so part of what we need to do is to get ourselves back into that mode of thinking. and and we haven't been we've been yelling and complaining and screaming about things that most of the voters didn't care about

and they sent us a very clear message. not once but twice in 18 and 20. so we need to listen. thank you. how was that? all right. i'll try to make it fairly quick. okay, you know needless to say having him having been in public figure. i think everyone was long wear of president trump's foibles and personality quirks and whatnot. but one thing that i think has made people loyal to him is the fact that he came in saying i will do certain things and by and large he did them. and i would say that as someone who's typically generally voted republican. i've often been disappointed by my party in terms of failure to keep promises made during the campaign so, you know too often we're talked to we will do this. and then nothing is done and except for the fact that you know, if you look at trump, he

made a he he fixed a skating rink in new york after six years of nonsense. he he built the golf club on a dump in a short period of time. he started building a wall when no wall was ever built he moved the the embassy in israel to the capital of israel when it had been said this will happen this will happen and so, you know, we're looking if somebody's going to be a a more acceptable alternative to the foibles and personality problems. then we though want somebody who is still going to do what he says. yeah. i don't know why our party has often disappointed us. well, if you talk to democrats, they'll say the same thing. and and there'd be a bunch of democrats who will say that as well. so i don't think it's unique to our party. but what i will say is look in the main i agreed with the

things that president trump tried to do. there's some things where we differ, but they're not hugely significant things. here's where i part company with it. you can't stand up. behind the seal the president united states in the east room of the white house at 2:30 am on election night. tell the american people that the election was stolen and not present any evidence to support that. the words of the president united states matter more than the words of a new york real estate developer. he continued to talk like he was in new york real estate developer when he was the president of the united states. and the american people want to believe what the president tells them any president? whether you voted for them or not. you want to believe what he said it would have been like barack obama standing up that night in april. of 2012 and saying osama. bin laden is dead. and then he wasn't.

what will we have thought at that moment? that's something of enormous gravity to the american people like an election. after what bin laden did to this country the idea that someone would say that he had been killed, but he wasn't. would have been something that we were never accept in the context of a president. saying that an election was stolen and not presenting any evidence to back that up. here we are 13 months later. he's still saying the same thing. to me that creates a huge. credibility problem that diminishes what you just talked about? and i said this to the president the saturday after the election. said if you don't either present the evidence that it was stolen now. or can see the election. you are going to diminish your legacy. in a way that will damage you personally and damage the party

for a long time. and so i agree with you that there are many things. he said he would do that. he got done. there were a number of things. he said he would do that. he didn't get done but you could say that about anybody who gets elected to office. but election night was the to me a line. that made it impossible for me. to say that's okay. because it's just not. and we all get into this business knowing that we can win or lose. and sometimes you think it isn't fair. i've lost elections. i thought weren't fair. that's the deal. you stand up. like an adult and you say i think that was fair. but the votes we counted the people have spoken. and i'll live to fight another day. and that's where i think the divide is now and that was not something that was not necessary to do. and not welcoming the bidens to

the white house. inaugural morning not going to the inauguration. look you think hillary clinton? wanted to be sitting there on january of 2017 at donald trump's inaugural. you think al gore? wanted to be sitting there. 2001 at george w. bush's inaugural you know anything george bush 41. want to be sitting there at bill clinton's inaugural? i am confident. would have rather have had elective root canal. they've been sitting there, but they went and not only did they go they welcomed. the victor to the white house and said this is the way we do it in this country. it's a peaceful transfer of power. where the vanquished? congratulate the victor. and we leave with grace and dignity. he didn't do any of that. and i think it's diminished him.

and it diminished our country in the process. you can still say i don't think it's fair outgore fought like crazy against george w bush for 34 days in court all the way the us supreme court. but with the us supreme court ruled even though al gore lost five to four. he didn't say hello that i'm not listening to the supreme court, and i'm not moving out of the naval observatory. i'm staying. i'm still the vice president. you know, he could see it. he went out he welcomed. bush to the naval observatory they met and they showed the country that this is the way we operate. and that's why we've operated in the main. for the last 250 years. and i think that's one that the president should have done much differently. thanks, governor governor big supporter my wife and i drove up from the shore just to be here and we're glad we did would love to see you as our candidate in 2024, but going back to your point a little while ago about how your own constituents felt

about trump and not wanting to hear that voice. i worked for a company that's based in the midwest and i spent a lot of time out there. there's a lot of good right thinking people out there, but when it comes to new yorkers or anybody from the northeast, they're like we don't really get them. we really don't want to you know, and we talk too fast. we don't give a chance to hear what we're saying to them and they took a chance on trump. and they feel they got burnt. how would somebody like you overcome what's become a bias against the northeast. thanks to donald. well, i would say to you that the they did take a chance on trump in some parts of the midwest. and other quiet places they didn't. i could tell you you know when i was in, iowa. spread the decent amount of time there in 2015. there is definitely you got to come uphill a little bit. if you come for the northeast. and you have a vowel at the end of your name? it's a little tough, you know.

but i think that you know for any of us. our own authenticity has to be what we rely upon. you know, there are plenty of people because believe me i see social media. there's plenty of people don't like me. that's okay. you know, that's their right. but i even the people who don't like me. most of them don't call me a phony. they have gotten to know me and don't like me. okay. that's fine. that's their call. it's politics. but i think that we can't. back away from authenticity and i think quite frankly that one of the reasons trump got elected. was because people said all right. look. may not say everything the way i'd like to say it, but man, i think he means it. and i think that's who he is. and and as a result, some people

were willing to a chance on him. based upon that authenticity so i still think the single most important thing in a candidate. is authenticity and you can tell when they're not. you know you look at certain candidates. and i ran against a bunch of them in 2016. he's looking. oh, yeah, no chance. you know, they're they're sitting there trying to think of what the answer should be. and try to figure out what it is you want to hear? and then give it back to you. and the american people are proving themselves in the main to be a lot smarter than that. and so i think the only way to overcome any of any bias. northeastern bites against the southern candidate mm-hmm, you know, there's no doubt that exists, you know, talk about a weird accent. you know, they think we have one look at them. but there's always going to be that buys i think. you know certain candidates overcome that with with their approach their personality their authenticity. that's all we can rely on. i know i said only three but then this good moment stood up

and i certainly yeah. yeah. she's the only woman who stood up. i'm certainly i am not telling her to sit down and i'm leaving. alright, no chance if i got to get in trouble with this woman not to get trouble with that woman. i'm okay with that. thank you for indulging me. no problem. thank you you for getting up. so i i do. and i did vote for biden. i will say that. but i think what people need to understand is that biden was a placeholder. he was a viable candidate to trump and that was really it it wasn't because people were so in love with biden and that's partly what biden is struggling now because he's also the independence. he's going way over to the left and everyone's like what the hell are you doing? you know truly that's how a lot of us are feeling. i'm so glad c-span's here to see this. go ahead. keep going. no, it's fine. i'm glad to say it because i really i really feel like i feel even the majority of biden voters are feeling that way.

but my question to you is you i think at this point represent a minority. to some extent of your party that come in someone that's standing up to the and conspiracies and so forth and i'm wondering if donald trump and his minions so to speak start going after you. they have and what are you going to do? how are you going to react because i would much rather see you on the ballot than well, thank you. i here look i'll react like a you all have watched me long time. morris county even longer than new jersey and certainly new jersey longer than the country. i'll give you the president attacked me a week or so ago. and and talked about my approval rating when i left, new jersey when i left the governorship. now. look my approval rating was bad enough when i left. he made it worse. he lied about it to make it worse. like i thought to myself why didn't you just tell the truth? he was really bad when i left so you could have just used the the real number and it would have been terrible.

and and my response to him was well, i don't know. donald when i ran for reelection, i got 60% of the vote when you ran you lost a joe biden. that's what i'll do. i mean look. donald trump has never gotten in a fight with me. i believe because he knows i know how to fight back. he fights in the mane with people. can't fight back. and and you'll notice if you remember back to the 16 race, i was like one of the only guys or women on stage. that didn't get a nickname. well energy jab little marco lions ted. crazy john, you know i didn't get one. um, and i'm susceptible to any number of nicknames that clearly could have thought of. and let me see something about what you said about your vote for biden. you know. i said this to trump in 2017

mary pat was there. we went for lunch with the president. on valentine's day 2017 office three weeks and he called and invited us to come down and have lunch with him. he wasn't exactly my idea of valentine's day, you know meal but i got to bring mary i got to bring you so it was okay. and and he said to me. like look around. can you believe i'm here, you know, and he was showing me the oval officer and i was like, well, yeah sure you won and we sat down to talk about it at lunch and i said to him remember something. you didn't win this election. she lost it. i see that mr. president doesn't matter. because your hand was on the bible on january 20th, you're sleeping upstairs. you're sitting in this office. it doesn't matter. but now you need to make the next four years about you. so that you because you'll be the one being judged for years from now. and i said the same thing happened to me. and what i want to know nine.

i didn't win. john corzine lost i mean, i'm not a big enough ego maniac to think that everybody went. oh my god. what i really want is chris christie. they went. oh my god. i don't want john corson anymore. is this guy reasonable? and i like biden looked like the reasonable alternative. to someone that they had already rejected. so i understand exactly what you mean. and by the way, that's how trump got elected in 16 in my opinion. hillary clinton this is demonstrated by the polling data on election day. was the single most unpopular presidential candidate on election day? in american history by the way, the second most unpopular presidential candidate on election date american history was donald trump. but a little better than her. and so he won now when we when i told him that mary pad will tell

he got so --. i won. i won in a landslide that's outrageous that she didn't lose. i beat her. i'm like look. you can think that. but it's just not true and you shouldn't be upset about it. don't get upset. i said like i felt the same way. i know that i course. i lost i didn't win but what i did mr. president was every day. i went to my campaign manager the day after the election in '09. 'cause we won with 48 and a half percent of the vote in a three-way race. i looked at i said. every day from here on out. your job is to figure out how we build that coalition what i need to do to convince as many of the 51 and a half percent of the people who didn't vote for me to vote for me next time. if donald trump had done that. he'd still be in the white house today. instead what he did? was decided just to play to his base.

and when that happens in a close election you don't bring the country together. you wind up going down? and it's your right again. it's exactly what's happened to joe biden right now. joe biden promised to be united and to bring the country together. and return it to normalcy. and then he comes in and he goes way left. to the base of his party. the exact same mistake that trump made and doesn't try to bring the country together and bring more people in. remember in in 2013 when i got reelected. i got 51% of the latino vote. i got 29% of the african-american vote. four years earlier i'd gotten 11% of the african-american vote and 33% of the latino vote. that didn't happen. by miracle it's because we

worked every day to reach out to those folks who didn't vote for us. ask them why. and try to deal with the issues they were concerned about. so i absolutely agree with you independence of abandoned biden for the moment because biden abandon them first. they didn't leave him. he left them. they're standing in the middle of the country going. where the hell joe biden go. he's all the way over there. with elizabeth warren and bernie sanders the democratic rejected elizabeth warren and bernie sanders and and kamala harris because they were too liberal. they nominated the 78 year old guy. for two reasons he was in the middle and they wanted to beat trump. and they knew those other ones couldn't. so i don't understand why this is so complicated. i really don't and maybe i'm just getting too old. and i've seen too much. but it's pretty simple on how to

try to govern and win this country. and winning is the hardest part but once you get there. whether it's the power of a governorship. or the power of the presidency you have the ability. to be able to bring people together. you just have to decide to do it. and i'm disappointed that trump didn't. disappointed that biden isn't and i think the american people said the pretty clear signal in 2020. they're probably gonna have to send send it again in 2024. that we want someone who is going to bring the country together. tired of being divided tired of not being able to go to a cocktail party and have a conversation about politics. we're tired of people yelling at us because we have a bumper sticker on our car. we're tired of people giving us a hard time because of what we believe. and when i grew up in politics that wasn't the way it was.

and i think we can bring it back. this book is an effort. start with my own party. it's always easy for me to lecture democrats, right? why don't you run as an independent? well, right and my point is you could probably win right? i mean because let the sides go to the sides and you have little candidate is gonna win. that's right. what you what you need to as a republican. start with your own party. and and and start with you talking to them about these. and look either i'll convince people or i won't. but that's what this business is all about. they should say when i was governor all the time when the press would say to me. well the polls. say this if i'd say to them well my job is to change polls not to follow polls. if you are a persuasive leader. your job is to change polls not to follow them. so, you know, i hope that that's what this book starts to do.

i know this much at least it started a conversation rupert murdoch gave his speech three days. later. at the news corp cheryl's meeting where he said donald trump is wrong. the election wasn't stolen we have to stop talking about it. we're gonna fight for the future and we have to stop worrying about the past if trump doesn't stop talking about it that he can't be a part of the future. well if the head of fox news is saying that we may be starting to get someplace. so that's why i did the book. and that's why we started the conversation. and i'm glad you were the last question because i think that's a great place for us to end. i want to say one thing besides. thanking my wife not only for tonight, but for putting up with me for the last 35 years. is that this place? is really special to us. we've been here 30 years. and we've been made to feel welcome here for all 30 years that we've been here. when we were brand new. you know residents with no

children and nobody knew who we were. to being a freeholder. and then being the governor that had those suvs idling outside of every place for eight years all around town with the guys with the wires in their ears at least for that time. you lived in the safest town in new jersey and guarantee that there's no problem there. you definitely lived in the safest place but through all those ups and downs. you know there were times that were difficult. and when they have those difficult times of public life and you come home. you want to not have to worry about going out at home? and i can tell you that when things were great. everybody here was great too, but when things weren't great everybody here was great, too. even when they disagreed with me. they didn't in a way that was respectful of the fact that we're one of you. and so, you know, we thank you for that because you provided us a community.

to raise all four of our children. in a way that we wanted to and when they were in the public spotlight you made it better not worse. you didn't make them feel different. and that on the soccer fields or on the little league fields, or are the football fields. you guys made them feel like they were just four more kids. in mendham and that made our lives a lot easier. so thank you for coming tonight and thank you for all of that. i appreciate it. thank you governors. thank you governor. thank you. by democratic

congressman jerry, connelly a virginia. this is gerry connolly congressman from the 11th district of virginia. and it's gives me great pleasure to interview my good friend. the distinguished congressman from the fourth congressional