Hasan Scraps with Chris Christie

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Hasan Scraps with Chris Christie"

Podcast: Hasan Minhaj Doesn't Know
Host: Hasan Minhaj
Guest: Chris Christie (Former NJ Governor)
Date: July 1, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this fast-paced and sharply witty episode, Hasan Minhaj sits down with Chris Christie, the two-time governor of New Jersey, former federal prosecutor, prominent Republican, and, most controversially, one of the first elected officials to publicly back Donald Trump in 2016. Minhaj, drawing on his trademark blend of incisive questioning and comedic jabs, presses Christie about his role in shaping the post-Trump Republican Party, his complicity and subsequent reversal on Trump, the legacy of his sports gambling legislation, and the viability of both populist and moderate politics in 2026.
Throughout, Christie proves he’s willing to “scrap,” tackling tough criticisms head-on while defending (and sometimes critiquing) his party, his record, Trump, and the shape of American politics.

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Key Topics & Discussions

1. Christie's Record & Relationship with Trump

• Hasan kicks off with elephant-in-the-room questions:
  • Why did Christie stick by Trump through scandals and pardons?
  • What changed for Christie, and how does he defend his about-face?
• Christie's defense:
  • He believed in supporting the GOP nominee as is traditional ("What I did at the time is what people normally do in politics, which is you run. If you lose, you try to help the person who gets the nomination for your party." - Christie, 15:00)
  • Admits it was a mistake, says he eventually “called it out” after Jan 6 and speaks to public opposition to key Trump actions.

Notable exchange:

• [15:56] Christie: “Oh, I didn’t say he [Trump] was. He was some of those things and not some of the other ones...But, quite frankly...I admitted I was wrong. So, you know, people make mistakes.”
• [16:34] Hasan: “...if I pissed on my professor’s desk, there is no way I wouldn’t not be arrested. Right? And that would be calculated.”
• [17:07] Christie: “I ran against him in 2023 and in 2024...You want to go back and cherry pick some of that stuff, that’s fine. I know who I am...and I've done things other Republicans haven't even dreamed of doing.”

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2. Sports Betting: From Legalization to Social Costs

• Hasan probes Christie on his pivotal role in legalizing sports betting:
  • Motivated by a desire to revitalize Atlantic City (original intent was to attract gamblers to casinos, not anticipate the mobile app era).
• Impact assessment:
  • Christie claims the overall impact on sports fandom is positive, argues it's “net neutral” for society (07:34).
• Concerns about gambling addiction, vice "virality," and the new era of betting:
  • Hasan raises the dangers of the “pocket bookie” and growing addiction in younger generations.
  • Christie counters by noting regulatory improvements (e.g., no credit cards now)—but sees some vice as inevitable.
• Both note how legal markets have increased transparency around betting corruption, e.g., match-fixing, via tracking/alerts not possible under illegal operations.

Notable quote:

• [11:47] Christie: “Of course, [I have sympathy]. As I do with people who struggle for any type of addiction, whether it be drugs or alcohol. And I worked on that a lot when I was governor...but I think ... we're not saying we're going to ban alcohol. We tried that once ... didn't work so well.”
• [12:53] Christie: “No, [I wouldn’t undo the case]. Because I still think that more people use it responsibly .... A lot of people that I know bet small amounts of money. They have fun with it. They compete with their friends. I think it's an overreaction.”

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3. The Future & Soul of the Republican Party

• Can the GOP be "rescued"?
  • Hasan challenges Christie: If Trumpism has overtaken the party, why not switch parties, or go independent?
• Christie doubles down on being a "fighter":
  • Wants to “change it back,” sees himself as a non-quitter (24:59).
• Dissects Trump’s achievements:
  • Minhaj rattles off controversial Trump accomplishments; Christie agrees with some (overturning Roe v. Wade), disagrees or minimizes others (bureaucratic “chainsaw”), and dismisses much as rhetoric.
• The Role of Shame & Humiliation:
  • Has confronting Trumpism, shaming, and public “body slams” (like his famous Rubio debate takedown) worked to reform the party? Christie: sometimes, but lasting change takes time and often only follows electoral defeat.

Notable exchange:

• [25:02] Christie: “I want to change the party. I’m not a quitter.”—on why he remains a Republican.
• [45:22] Christie: “...you know what forces people to have to listen to the truth? Losing, losing forces you politically to have to listen...”
• [17:36] Christie: “Don’t say I stuck with him through 2020. In fact ... when the President came out and said he thought it was rigged ... I spoke out that day ... I couldn't support him anymore because of that.”

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4. False Equivalencies & Corruption in US Politics

• Comparing Trump, Biden, and Clinton ‘scandals’:
  • Hasan pushes back on GOP claims of “both sides do it.”
  • Christie acknowledges the false equivalency, arguing Trump’s term 2 corruption “outstrips anything that’s been done by any president in the history of the country...” ([21:10])
• Doublespeak and populist tactics:
  • Both examine how Trump and other populists manipulate media narratives, with Christie noting that “calling the media the enemy” seems less effective now than in Trump’s earlier runs.

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5. Party Policy: What Makes a “Good” Democratic Policy?

• Hasan pitches progressive policy proposals (stop Congress stock trading, Medicare for all, universal childcare, etc).
  • Christie agrees with some (“Stop Congress from trading stocks—Good idea”), but demurs on most government-wide entitlements, pushing means-tested safety nets instead.
• Christie’s “Infinity Stones” (56:23):
  • Honesty
  • Integrity
  • Strong national defense
  • Safety net for the underprivileged
  • Fair, equitable justice system

Notable banter:

• [49:08] Hasan: “I'm down to pay for other people's kids. I promise you.”
• [49:13] Christie: “I don't want to pay for...And you already are. You already are through taxes.”
• [55:19] Christie: “That’s why you like Bernie Sanders. That’s what populism is. Leaders listen to what's popular and then just do it, whether they think it’s good or not. That, to me, is not what leadership is.”

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6. Political Talent & Stories from the Field

• What is “political talent”?
  • Christie: It’s the “ability to connect with people.”
• Bill Clinton story (Starts at 57:44):
  • Christie tells a colorful anecdote about watching Bill and Hillary at Trump’s wedding (2005)—Bill worked the room, Hillary waited for people to come to her, leading Christie to predict Clinton’s future political success and Hillary’s limitations.
• Clinton’s legendary charm:
  • “He has an amazing ability to connect with people very quickly ... All the questions were about us. No comments about himself other than he always wanted to be a US attorney.”
• Who else has that talent?
  • Christie says no current US politician rivals Clinton’s skill.
• Hasan counters with humor, joking about local CVS clerks being more charming than 90% of politicians. Christie notes the difficulty of “doing it on stage” vs. one-on-one.

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7. Memorable Moments & Quotes

• "This guy will scrap. My man will scrap." - Hasan, repeatedly acknowledging Christie’s willingness to argue and take heat (01:46, 70:36).
• On booing at GOP events:
  • [43:02] Christie: “Booing is allowed, but it doesn't change the truth. ...Your anger against the truth is reprehensible.”
• On political cross-party advice:
  • [46:39] Christie: “Stop talking about Donald Trump, start laying out for people what you would do differently.”
• On leadership:
  • [55:19] Christie: “Leadership is using the judgment you've developed over time to make decisions on behalf of people. ...You elect people to use their judgment and to make decisions, and if you don't like the judgment they exercise, you can vote them out.”
• On running for office again:
  • [54:46] Hasan: “You’re probably going to run for office again. ...These are popular policies—”
  • Christie: “Just because something's popular... If you don't favor it—That’s the problem with your view of politics.”

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8. Lighter Touches & Podcast Tone

• Hasan keeps things sharply comic, unafraid to roast Christie and himself (jokes about government-issued paperbacks, “virality of vice,” his parents’ Thanksgiving arguments, and even offering his own “gov domain” for social programs).
• The two spar but maintain mutual respect, exchanging jabs over “minus” grades, what counts as policy, and letting Christie roast Hasan’s “imprecise” use of stats or rhetoric.
• The episode closes with a bit about Christie signing a hardcover book for comedian Ronny Chieng instead of a paperback—and a debate over whether government should pay for hardcover books.

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Christie on Trump Loyalty, Endorsement, and Break ([01:16]–[18:16])
• Sports Gambling: Why & What Next ([03:18], [06:11]–[13:41])
• Partisan Division & What’s Left of the GOP ([24:51]–[30:00])
• Policy Faceoff: Progressives vs. Republicans ([48:14]–[52:13])
• Bill Clinton “Political Talent” Anecdote ([57:44]–[61:28])
• Final Grade & Banter Over Signed Books ([65:59]–[70:17])

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Conclusion

Hasan Minhaj and Chris Christie deliver a fiercely entertaining, idea-packed, and sometimes combative conversation that plumbs the depths of post-Trump Republicanism, the pitfalls of mass gambling legalization, and the challenge of honest political leadership in an age of both spectacle and substance. Both men “scrap,” both leave with bruises, and listeners leave with a much richer sense of the stakes and personalities at play in 2026.
Christie, reflecting on his own outlook, notes:

“I want to change the party. I’m not a quitter.” ([25:02])

Minhaj, ever the host willing to push (and joke), gives Christie the room to wrestle with his complicated legacy—and calls out his willingness to face the tough questions, no matter what the crowd (or the host) throws at him.

Episode’s Last Words:

“They don’t build ‘em like you, Governor.” – Hasan Minhaj (70:36)

Transcript

[Hasan Minhaj]

Lemonader. Thanks for listening to Hasa Minhaj Doesn't Know Listen to and follow Hasan Minhaj Doesn't Know ad free on Amazon Music or just ask Alexa. Alexa play the podcast Hasan Minhaj Doesn't Know on Amazon Music. Also, with Amazon Music Unlimited, you can now listen to your favorite music, podcasts and audiobooks, all in the Amazon Music app. Listen to Hasan Minhaj Doesn't Know on Amazon Music. Picture this. You're finally taking time to clean out your gutters. Not fun, but hey, good for you. Your elbows deep in soggy leaves. And then suddenly the smoke alarm starts blaring from inside. Smoke pours out the window. What do you do? ADTs do it yourself systems are built for those moments in your life when everything turns on a dime. They're affordable, easy to set up, and the ADT app keeps you in control 24. 7 from virtually anywhere, tackle your to do list knowing that your home is protected. When every second Counts, count on ADT. Visit ADT.com or call 1-800-ADT ASAP. Let's pivot to something that's less spicy. Let's talk politics. Yeah, you stuck with Donald Trump through the Saudis, obstructing the Mueller investigation, asking Ukraine for dirt on Biden, pardoning Roger Stone, Steve Bannon and Charles Kushner, who you put in prison.

[Chris Christie]

You want to go back and, you know, cherry pick some of that stuff, that's fine. I know who I am and I know what I've stood for.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Why should we believe any of your critiques of Donald Trump then?

[Chris Christie]

And Doge was completely ineffective. It was all bull.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I mean, USAID is dead.

[Chris Christie]

Don't change the question now.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I'm saying I've gone through breakups that had a longer gap.

[Chris Christie]

When you use 2020 as a broad 365 day program there. Get real about your research. Okay?

[Hasan Minhaj]

But Governor, isn't that how a year works?

[Chris Christie]

No, it's not. You're proving your point that you can't win arguments with a lawyer.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I told you guys, this guy will scrap. My man will scrap. Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is not afraid to scrap. And even though, as you will see in this interview, we disagree on a

[Chris Christie]

lot, this is the problem with your view of politics.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Okay? I genuinely respect his willingness to come on here and duke it out. Now, I know what some of you are thinking. Hassan, why are you even having Chris Christie on your show? He was the first elected official to endorse Donald Trump in 2016. He made millions off his political connections after leaving public office. And he was caught sunbathing on a beach with his family that was closed for Covid in 2020. That is not true. Don't jump to conclusions. He was the first elected official to endorse Donald Trump in 2016. Yes, he did make millions of dollars off his political connections after leaving public office. And he was caught sunbathing on a beach with his family that was closed for a government shutdown in 2017, not Covid in 2020. Look it up. Everyone remembers this wrong. In all seriousness, I have been trying to get Chris Christie on this show for two years because I am fascinated by his battle to get the Republican Party back to what it was before Donald Trump. A Republican Party that some might say created the conditions that led to Donald Trump. But he disagrees. So we talked it out, and I asked him why, if his party is so bad, he doesn't just bail, is there anything that would make you vote for a Democrat? And I asked him straight up whether Republican voters even want what he's selling. Do you think the Republican voters want the truth?

[Chris Christie]

You know what forces people not to listen to the truth? Losing.

[Hasan Minhaj]

We also talked about his pivotal role in a Supreme Court case that unleashed the wave of gambling and gambling addiction we are now seeing across the country. I have not taken any money from any sports gambling website. Do you have anything you'd like to disclose?

[Chris Christie]

No.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Hey, life's more fun when you're in on the action. Now, you were instrumental in the legalization of sports betting, so I want to see how good of a gambler that you are. I would like to play.

[Chris Christie]

Yeah.

[Hasan Minhaj]

A game called Guess the Odds. What do you think the chances that the US government confirms that aliens do exist by December 31st?

[Chris Christie]

I think it's 5%.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Wrong. Poly market odds are 16%.

[Chris Christie]

16.

[Hasan Minhaj]

By the way. I want. I want to just.

[Chris Christie]

Still not great.

[Hasan Minhaj]

By the way, Governor, I want to just establish this. Real people are betting on this. So these are real odds that we pulled from Poly Market.

[Chris Christie]

Disturbing, yes? Yeah, quite.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah. You're seeing the larger social commentary here. Okay, now this is a fastball down the middle for you, Governor.

[Chris Christie]

Okay, we'll get ready.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Who will be the 2028 Republican nominee for president? Give me a name.

[Chris Christie]

This is who Polymarket thinks it will be.

[Hasan Minhaj]

People on Polymarket are betting.

[Chris Christie]

I'm going to say Polymarket right now is saying Marco Rubio.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Marco Rubio is in second place.

[Chris Christie]

Okay.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Number one is J.D. vance at 37%.

[Chris Christie]

Where's Marco?

[Hasan Minhaj]

Marco is number two at 25%.

[Chris Christie]

I'm a little surprised by that.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Really? You thought it'd be high?

[Chris Christie]

I thought Marco's stock was rising right now, but okay, maybe he was a lot lower than 25 before. Who knows?

[Hasan Minhaj]

Number three, Tucker Carlson at 6%.

[Chris Christie]

Stop. That's ridiculous.

[Hasan Minhaj]

6%.

[Chris Christie]

Those are people who just want to give money away. They're betting on Tucker Carlson. I mean, to be the Republican nominee.

[Hasan Minhaj]

With all due respect.

[Chris Christie]

Why don't you just throw your money in the fireplace? I mean, seriously, Tucker Carlson.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Carlson at 6%. With all due respect, Governor, anyone who's on polymarkets throwing their money away.

[Chris Christie]

Yeah.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Donald Trump is at 2%.

[Chris Christie]

And by the way, that's Donald Trump's money. He has actually he bet on himself.

[Hasan Minhaj]

But let's talk about the other side. Who will be the 2028 Democratic nominee for president?

[Chris Christie]

Who does Polymarket saying.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Who is Polymarket saying? That this person will be the top candidate.

[Chris Christie]

Polymarket probably says Gavin Newsom.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You're correct. Gavin Newsom at 24%.

[Chris Christie]

There you go.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Kamala Harris.

[Chris Christie]

More wasted money, by the way.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You don't think he's gonna be the nominee?

[Chris Christie]

I do not.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Who do you think he's gonna be? I'll go down the list. What do you think?

[Chris Christie]

It's not gonna be Kamala Harris.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Kamala Harris is at 9%.

[Chris Christie]

Yeah. No.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Is AOC is at 8%.

[Chris Christie]

No.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Mr. Beast is at 1%.

[Chris Christie]

Mr. Beast. He's got a shot.

[Hasan Minhaj]

We're in agreement. I actually think Mr. Beast should be higher. I think he would think that's the greatest heist he could pull off. How about the virality of that YouTube video?

[Chris Christie]

Yeah.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I will be running for President of the United States of America. It's going to get a lot of views.

[Chris Christie]

Look, it's the way people felt in 2015 when Donald Trump came down the escalator. So, you know, Mr. Beast is not out of play.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Anything is possible. Yeah, we're talking about gambling. Back when you were governor, you fought a federal ban on sports betting and took it all the way to the Supreme Court. Now we're having this conversation in 2026. It is now legal in 39 states.

[Chris Christie]

Yes.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Now, as a member of the Sports Betting hall of Fame, I am. Do you feel like the industry has had a net positive impact on sports fans, sports teams, and society at large?

[Chris Christie]

On sports fans, yes, Because I think that you have more of them. More people are watching sports, interested in sports because they can put a little money on it. And I think that they generally, in most of them, not all, but Most of them enjoy it more because they have a little action and they feel like they're part of it. For sports teams, I would say it has been great for the sports team's owners because it's increased the value of those teams.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Oh, wait, Gumr. Can I just stop you real quick? I just have to stop for a quick ad break. Real quick.

[Chris Christie]

We make money. Yeah.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah. This is how we make money. This episode of HMDK is brought to you by DraftKings Play now to win big prizes and elevate your game day experience with DraftKings. If you or someone you know struggles with gambling addiction, call 1-800-GAMBLER 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You don't have to suffer alone. DraftKings Life is more fun when you get in on the action. I'm sorry, what were you saying?

[Chris Christie]

Oh, where were we?

[Hasan Minhaj]

We're talking about sports team society in general. Sports teams society in general.

[Chris Christie]

Well, I think that for society in general, it has probably gotten more people to bet than had done it before illegally. And you know, I think it's a net neutral. I don't think it's horrible for society. But you know, it's another vice and people have to learn how to control it.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Are you familiar? Do you know Adam Silver? I'm sure you guys probably know each other.

[Chris Christie]

I've met the commissioner. Yes.

[Hasan Minhaj]

So the, I mean, obviously you know that the commissioner with this Chauncey Billup story, with a lot of the gambling stuff that's happening, he's in quite a hullabaloo right now and a tizzy with what's happening right now. You've also seen the footage of people at games screaming at the players. You up my parlay. Part of my French.

[Chris Christie]

Governor.

[Hasan Minhaj]

What, what are your thoughts on this?

[Chris Christie]

Look, I think there were plenty of people who were doing that before too. Yeah. And on the Chauncey Billip stuff, what I would say to you is that the, the stuff that went on in the NBA, stuff that went on in MLB with the, with the players who were had people betting on whether they would throw a strike or not on a particular pitch. You wouldn't have found out about that if it wasn't for legalized gambling because, you know, it wasn't like the mafia was going to call the MLB and say, hey, by the way, this relief pitcher from the Indians or the Guardians rather, you know, is in on the game here. So I think you mentioned this before,

[Hasan Minhaj]

that it being on these apps kind of basically put it in the blockchain it's documented.

[Chris Christie]

Yes. And it increases the likelihood that you're going to be able to discover it because they have an affirmative obligation, legally, regulatorily, to watch for unusual betting.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yes.

[Chris Christie]

And to report it both to law enforcement and to the league.

[Hasan Minhaj]

So. So at the time when you took this case to the Supreme Court. It went all the way to the Supreme Court.

[Chris Christie]

Yeah.

[Hasan Minhaj]

What was your thinking behind the repealing of the ban on sports betting?

[Chris Christie]

Well, first off, remember that back then, when it went, when we started the lawsuit, it was 2012. Yeah. And the idea that everybody would have a betting app on their phone was not even conceived of yet. Right. So what I was thinking was Atlantic City was getting a lot of competition from casino gambling around the country. I was looking for a way to differentiate Atlantic City from all these other new casinos. So I said, let's get sports gambling in New Jersey at the casinos. That was the original thought. It obviously evolved over the six years that the case went on. But that was the original thought was we wanted to make something different in the Atlantic City casinos to try to draw more people there.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Gambling looked very different in the 90s. It looked very different in the 2000s, the early aughts. You're talking about 2012. What do you think about it now? I mean, 2026 gambling, you now have a pocket bookie where you can gamble 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So it's not even just the small time goodfellas mob stuff anymore. You are now in every person's pocket. The moment they. They wake up, you are.

[Chris Christie]

And I think that they. Any concerns that people have had about it, a lot of them have been addressed by dealing with not allowing people to use credit cards anymore. So you can't run up debt to go on at least the regulated websites. Right. So you got to have cash to be able to do it.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah.

[Chris Christie]

So I think that makes it better. So I'm less concerned about that than I was in the beginning of it when people were able to use credit cards to put money on there, and then they're paying incredible interest rates on that money on their credit card. That could create a huge problem for people. I think now that they've gotten rid of that, I'd also like to see, you know, parlays and those kind of betting go away in college sports.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah.

[Chris Christie]

I think when you have young people on campus betting on it and then there are, you know, physics class with the guy or the woman, the next day, there's much more interaction between those folks than with the pro Athletes.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I mean, I'll be honest, Governor, the thing that concerns me the most and for my generation, I think it's the virality of vice. You know, back in the day, you used to have. You had your corner, you know, drug guy. Right. He's your local weed dealer. At no point did they make drugs available on an app. Do you have sympathy for the people that struggle now with gambling addiction?

[Chris Christie]

Oh, of course, yeah. As I do with people who struggle for any type of addiction, whether it be drugs or alcohol. And I worked on that a lot when I was governor, so. Yeah. But I think in the same token, we're not saying that we're going to ban alcohol. We tried that once in the country. Didn't work so well. So what we have to do is to try to deal with the people who have addictive personalities, get them the treatment they need so that they can get through it. And the other thing I'd say about the idea of the vice verality, as

[Hasan Minhaj]

you put it, the virality of vice.

[Chris Christie]

Yeah. So, you know, we see it with porn also. And the ability for people to get that online now, I think is an even bigger problem, you know, in many ways than gambling.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Right now, a Siena poll shows that half of men age 18 to 49 now have an active online sports betting account. A 2024 study found that over 700,000 gamblers found that only 4% of them actually made money from online betting, while 96% lost money. Knowing what you know now, would you go back and push a button and undo that case in 2012?

[Chris Christie]

No. Why? No? Because I still think that more people use it responsibly, more people are finding enjoyment out of it. Much more of it. And the statistics just read. Okay, so 49% of young men between 18 and 49 have an account. We don't have the correlation of. Are they becoming addictive gamblers? Are they losing too much money? A lot of people that I know bet small amounts of money. They have fun with it. They compete with their friends. I think it's an overreaction.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Also. I just want to do this. I just want to give you full disclosure right now. That ad read that I did for DraftKings. That's not a real ad, of course. Okay. I have not taken any money from DraftKings. I have not taken any money from any sports gambling website. I'm a practicing Muslim. I do not take money from gambling platforms. Do you have anything you'd like to disclose?

[Chris Christie]

No.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Because life's more fun when you're in on the action. Isn't that right, Governor?

[Chris Christie]

That's exactly right.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Because I remember shortly after you left being governor in New Jersey, you became an advisor to DraftKings.

[Chris Christie]

Oh, yeah, sure.

[Hasan Minhaj]

All right, let's pivot to something that's less spicy. Let's talk about something that'll unite the room. Let's talk about politics.

[Chris Christie]

Yeah.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Now, you've gone hard in the paint against Donald Trump. You have said that the president is a bitter, angry man, undisciplined, immature, narcissistic, a certified loser, a verified coward, and the cheapest SOB I've ever met in my life. However, Right here's the twist. You were the first elected official to endorse him in 2016. Donald Trump revealing his newest weapon today. Governor Chris Christie and the surprise endorsement saying he's now behind Trump for president.

[Chris Christie]

I am proud to be here to endorse Donald Trump for President of the United States.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I know people in the comments will ask this, so I'm just gonna ask you, why should we believe any of your critiques of Donald Trump then?

[Chris Christie]

Because the critiques happened after that, not before it. I got to know him much better, and I came to a different conclusion than what my opinion of him was in 2016.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Pre2016. He was none of those things, the Donald Trump that you knew.

[Chris Christie]

Oh, I didn't say he was. He was some of those things and not some of the other ones. Okay. But quite frankly, you know, what I did at the time is what people normally do in politics, which is you run. If you lose, you try to help the person who gets the nomination for your party. And that's what I tried to do. And by the way, I admitted I was wrong. So, you know, people make mistakes. It was a mistake to support him, but, you know, it wasn't the only mistake I've made in my life, and it won't be the last one.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You know, look, I appreciate your transparency here. Here's the thing that doesn't make sense to me. So you went on Hannity in April of 2021. This is after January 6th.

[Chris Christie]

Yeah.

[Hasan Minhaj]

And Sean asked you on the air, what grade would you give Donald Trump? Do you know what grade you gave him?

[Chris Christie]

Well, what was the question? Grade for what?

[Hasan Minhaj]

What grade would you give the president in regards to his performance as president?

[Chris Christie]

Well, I probably gave him A minus, B plus.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You said, overall, I'd give the president an A.

[Chris Christie]

Right.

[Hasan Minhaj]

We're talking about Viking dude breaking in.

[Chris Christie]

That's not what we were talking about.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Talking about pouring through the Senate chambers.

[Chris Christie]

It Wasn't what we're talking about, a

[Hasan Minhaj]

guy pissing on Nancy Pelosi.

[Chris Christie]

But it wasn't what we were talking about. It wasn't.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You're talking about his presidential performance. Correct, but that's part of it. That's the exit interview. You could argue.

[Chris Christie]

By the way, that wasn't the question that he asked me. Overall, how do you grade Trump as president? Oh, listen, overall, I give the President an A. You know, but the fact of the matter is that there were some things that happened specifically at the end of the presidency that I think had some things that clouded his accomplishments.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I'm a poli sci major. Okay? 60 units. I'm not trying to brag.

[Chris Christie]

Well, congratulations. Okay, me too.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Now, one time in political science class, I didn't include a bibliography on an essay and they gave me a C plus. Governor, if I pissed on my professor's desk, there is no way. There is no way I wouldn't not be arrested.

[Chris Christie]

Right.

[Hasan Minhaj]

And that would be calculated.

[Chris Christie]

I don't know. I don't know what any of you. You're saying right now has to do with a question that I got in 2021. But continue on.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I'm saying you have to include the assessment of January6 to your overall assessment.

[Chris Christie]

Look, and I did, and I ran against him in 2023 and in 2024. And I've been very clear about the way I felt about all the things that he's done in the interim as well. So you want to go back and cherry pick some of that stuff, that's fine. I know who I am, and I know what I've stood for, and I've done things that other Republicans haven't even dreamed of doing.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Now, a lot of people in our audience, they don't know this. My sister's an attorney. You also were an attorney. You were the U.S. attorney of the Department of Justice.

[Chris Christie]

I was.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Okay. Now, let me tell you something. As someone with a younger sister who's a lot smarter than him, you don't want to argue with a lawyer, okay? I've lost many an argument with my younger sister. She goes hard in the paint. But so do you. Yeah. Now, you made your name as an anti corruption guy. As a U.S. attorney, you oversaw the convictions of 130 public officials. But you didn't fully break with Trump until after the 2020 election. So just to be clear, as an anti corruption guy, you stuck with Donald Trump through the Saudis, shoveling money into his hotels, obstructing the Mueller investigation, and asking Ukraine for dirt on Biden pardoning Roger Stone, Steve Bannon and Charles Kushner, who you put in prison, by the way.

[Chris Christie]

You know, this is all fun, but I spoke clearly out about my opposition to those pardons. So. And those pardons happened right at the very end of his presidency. So don't say I stuck with him through 2020. In fact, if you go back to my commentary in ABC on the night of the election in 2020, when the President came out and said he thought it was rigged, all the rest of it, I spoke out that day very strongly about the fact that I couldn't support him anymore because of that. And I disagree with what he did tonight. There comes a point where you have to let the process play itself out before you judge it to have been flawed. So when you use 2020 as a broad 365 day program there, get real about your research. Okay, okay, so, but Governor, isn't that

[Hasan Minhaj]

how a year works that way?

[Chris Christie]

No, no, it's not. So. Good try.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I think it does.

[Chris Christie]

Good try. You're proving your point that you can't win arguments with a lawyer.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Okay, understood. You helped Donald Trump prepare for his debate against Hillary Clinton. Is this true in 2016?

[Chris Christie]

Yes. Okay.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You also helped prep him against Joe Biden in that debate in 2020. And frankly, you didn't really have to, because I think President Joe Biden had dementia. Here's my question. Yeah. Do you think either of those two people that I just mentioned, Hillary Clinton or Joe Biden, would have been more corrupt than Donald Trump had they won?

[Chris Christie]

Look, I think they both had those problems, but do I think they would have been more corrupt? Probably not, no.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Why is there this kind of Republican false equivalency between Donald Trump's Scrooge McDuck open skullduggery and corruption? And then that gets compared equal to Hunter Biden laptop or Hillary Clinton's emails?

[Chris Christie]

Look, you have to ask the Republicans who've actually done that and made that comparison. I haven't.

[Hasan Minhaj]

How do you analyze it? Do you see them as wildly different things?

[Chris Christie]

Look, I think that all of them have had their own problems. And I think with Biden, the stuff that was going on with Hunter was fairly open corruption. Hunter Biden's paintings being purchased for hundreds of thousands of dollars. I'm no art critic.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Sure.

[Chris Christie]

But doesn't seem to me that's the right thing to do. Joe Biden pardoning all the members of his family on the way out the door is going to set a horrible precedent for what we're going to See, that's going to happen at the end of 2028. So, you know, I think there were a lot of things that went on the Biden administration and go back to the Clintons. There's lots of things we could talk about from selling the Lincoln Bedroom to a number of other acts of corruption, including the Mark Rich pardon by Bill Clinton that Hillary Clinton was at least an adjacent partner to. So, you know, we can compare all those things.

[Hasan Minhaj]

They all unsavory stuff all around. Now, you got to grade it, though.

[Chris Christie]

Look, but I think that, and I also think that Trump corruption term, one significantly different than Trump corruption term to Trump corruption term to outstrips anything that's been done by any president in the history of the country, in my opinion.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I agree.

[Chris Christie]

So that's all, it's all relative.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Look, I'm coming in hot. But I, but like I said as you walked in, I got to give you your flowers. You are a New Jersey scrapper. And one of the things that you've done is you've gone hard in the paint on tape. Okay.

[Chris Christie]

Yeah.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I want to play back one of my favorite Chris Christie moments. Governor, this is you at the 2016 Republican primary debate when you body slammed Marco Rubio. Let's take a look. But I would add this. Let's dispel with this fiction that Barack Obama doesn't know what he's doing. He knows exactly what he's doing.

[Chris Christie]

That's what Washington, D.C. does. The drive by shot at the beginning with incorrect and incomplete information and then the memorized 25 second speech. That is exactly what his advisors gave him.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Your state got hit by a massive snowstorm two weeks ago. You didn't even want to go back. They had to shame you into going back. And then you stayed there for 36 hours. And then he left and came back to campaign. Those are the facts. Here's the bottom line. This notion that Barack Obama doesn't know what he's doing is just not there.

[Chris Christie]

It is. He knows exactly the memorized 25 second speech.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You called the audible. You called the audible. You're like, I knew he was going to do it.

[Chris Christie]

I knew he was a star. When you do debates the right way, if you want to be successful, they're about listening and reacting. And that's what Marco never understood.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yes. And that man that you just unloaded the clip on, he's now Secretary of State.

[Chris Christie]

Yeah. Oh, look. Won my choice.

[Hasan Minhaj]

All right, Governor, here's the larger question.

[Chris Christie]

There's a larger question.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yes. I even wrote this. This Is the larger question.

[Chris Christie]

Wait, no, this is it.

[Hasan Minhaj]

This is the larger question.

[Chris Christie]

Is it in bigger print?

[Hasan Minhaj]

It's in bold, man.

[Chris Christie]

Oh, well, here we go. Well, I'm ready. Let's go.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Governor, do shame and humiliation work against Republicans? Clearly, what you did here is you called the play, you told him what he was gonna do, you told the audience what he was gonna do. He then did it. AUDIENCE BOOS HIM IN UNISON this should be the body blow. This should be the down goes Frazier. It was, but it wasn't.

[Chris Christie]

It was. His campaign was over. You're now talking about eight years later he gets appointed by Donald Trump to be Secretary of State. It's not the job he wanted. He wanted Donald Trump's job. So I would argue to you that Frazier did go down.

[Hasan Minhaj]

He went down in that moment.

[Chris Christie]

Yeah. And by the way, and then Don

[Hasan Minhaj]

King called him and said, you should be Secretary of State.

[Chris Christie]

Well, and look, that's the guy we elected. President's call. And I disagree with it, but it is what it is.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Do you think it was brilliant that Donald Trump, from the get go, he kind of pulled what you did, which is, if I establish the media as the enemy of the people, everything that's written about him or said about him in the media, he can be like, I told you, I told you guys this was going to happen.

[Chris Christie]

That's not working anymore.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You think so?

[Chris Christie]

No, I just look at his poll numbers. His poll numbers tell you people aren't buying the act anymore.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Hey, man, 70% of people agree with his position in the Republican Party. 70% of Republican voters agree with his position in the war with Iran. They're in agreement.

[Chris Christie]

Well, but the problem for him is that not only Republicans vote.

[Hasan Minhaj]

What do you mean by that?

[Chris Christie]

Not only Republicans vote.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Right.

[Chris Christie]

So you have 70% of Republicans, by the way, that's down from where he was after he got elected in 2024, which is about 95% of Republicans. So he's now lost, you know, almost a quarter of his or a little more than a quarter of his support within his own party. And if you look at the latest numbers from the New York Times Sienna poll that came out has him minus 61among independents.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah. You recently said there are no principles left in my party. The only principle is Trump. Here's my question. Why are you still in the party then?

[Chris Christie]

Because I want to change the party. I'm not a quitter.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You can, you can switch up.

[Chris Christie]

No, I'm not a quitter.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You can sign and trade.

[Chris Christie]

No, he can go to the Transfer. He changed the party. I want to change it back.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Okay, so let's look ahead. Post Trump. You want to fix the party and change it back. Now, what's left for you guys to do? Because he's been very effective while he's in office. So far, he has overturned Roe v. Wade, affirmative action, and most of the Voting Rights Act. He cracked down on immigration. He took a chainsaw to the bureaucracy. He pushed through a huge tax cut for the rich. Let me tell you something. I live in Connecticut. People are happy. He rolled back climate change regulations. So I would say, if I was head coach, if I was like Mike Ditka for the Republican Party, I'd be like, gentlemen, we've already won. What's left? Pretty much, you got to just abolish the irs, give nukes to the lapd, and then make people stand for the national anthem at AMC movie theaters.

[Chris Christie]

It's. It's. It's an interesting sense of humor you have, but that's not. First of all, not all Republicans agree with all the things you just. You just lined up.

[Hasan Minhaj]

And what do you disagree? What do you disagree with? Out of. Out of.

[Chris Christie]

Well, I don't remember all the things that you zipped through in your very fast talk there. So you want to. You want to bring him back?

[Hasan Minhaj]

Sure. I'll.

[Chris Christie]

I'll answer them one by one. Which ones do you want? Which ones you want to go to?

[Hasan Minhaj]

Should we go through the list? I want to be respectful of time, Scott. Should we go through the list? Okay. He always keeps me honest with time. Overturn Roe v. Wade.

[Chris Christie]

I favor that.

[Hasan Minhaj]

He ended affirmative action and took it to the Supreme Court and did affirmative action.

[Chris Christie]

Yeah, I mean, I know. I don't. I don't agree with his position on that. No.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Okay. They've gutted most of the Voting Rights Act.

[Chris Christie]

I don't agree with that. I don't agree with what you said.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Crackdown on immigration.

[Chris Christie]

Not the way he's done it now.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Took a chainsaw to the bureaucracy.

[Chris Christie]

He hasn't.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I mean, that's just.

[Chris Christie]

That's just rhetoric. He didn't do anything. It's just talking about it.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You don't think Doge was a chainsaw to.

[Chris Christie]

Yeah, and Doge was completely, completely ineffective. It was all bullshit.

[Hasan Minhaj]

But you admit that it's insane, right? That basically Elon Musk and a bunch of, like, 12 dudes on ketamine pulled up and.

[Chris Christie]

By the way. By the way, that's why it didn't work. That's why it didn't work.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I Mean, USAID is dead. That's part of Doge.

[Chris Christie]

If you call getting rid of USAID putting, taking a chainsaw to the bureaucracy, I understand why you're doing it because of Elon with his chainsaw, you know, at the conservative conference. But no, it didn't work. Ineffective. Because what's happening to you is that you're believing all the stuff Trump says he did, not what he really did. I mean, and real people know that.

[Hasan Minhaj]

We had Atul Gawande on the show. USAID is dead. It's dead.

[Chris Christie]

But you didn't. Don't change the question now. Okay, read the point you made back to me. Took a chainsaw.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Took a chainsaw to the bureaucracy.

[Chris Christie]

One agency inside a multi trillion dollar federal government, I would argue to you is not taking a chainsaw to the bureaucracy. The bureaucracy is alive, well, living, breathing and some would say thriving because he's done more deficit spending than any president in American history. So. But we don't talk about that anymore

[Hasan Minhaj]

as Republicans got it rolled back climate change regulations.

[Chris Christie]

He's done a couple of things, but that's also been more talk than due.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Well, the Trump administration announcing an immediate pause on all large scale offshore wind projects. The Environmental Protection Agency has repealed its

[Commercial/Announcer]

own landmark Obama era assessment that greenhouse gases threaten public health and welfare.

[Chris Christie]

President Donald Trump has halted a Biden

[Commercial/Announcer]

era program that helped fund EV chargers.

[Hasan Minhaj]

The Trump administration is planning to close its largest federal climate research center. What else do you think the Republican Party needs to get done?

[Chris Christie]

We have to get spending under control. Our debt is out of control, completely out of control. Both parties have contributed to it, but Trump has contributed to more than anyone else. And if we don't get that under control, the lives of our grandchildren and great grandchildren will not be anywhere near the lives that you and I have been able to have. So that's one.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Okay, I don't want to cut you off.

[Chris Christie]

Well, look, I could do a lot, but I mean in respect for time, I have much more you want me to do. But our foreign policy needs to change completely. The wrecking of our alliances around the world is going to absolutely inured to our detriment over the course of the next decade or more if we continue on that path. I think what we've done, what he's done in this country regarding civility and the lack of civility has now infected not just the political system, but more broadly into everything else. And you see that throughout the country where families can't even have conversations about political issues, many around the kitchen table or the holiday table because people have been taught that the way to do that is to just take out the meat axe and take it to your relative. Yeah, you know, that's something I agree on.

[Hasan Minhaj]

One of those two. I do. I do believe that the United States position on the international stage is absolutely abysmal. But I will say families have always been arguing over Thanksgiving.

[Chris Christie]

Not in the same way.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Really.

[Chris Christie]

Definitely not in the same way.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Governor, you should come over to my parents house.

[Chris Christie]

You invite me. You invite me, I'll be there.

[Hasan Minhaj]

We have been arguing through every form.

[Chris Christie]

There's a difference between arguing and the type of and I can't believe you haven't seen it. The type of activity that's going on where people won't even bring up subjects anymore for fear of what the reaction of another person would be. And that is something in our country, our country was designed to be an argument. Yep, that's the way the system was set up. And he's such a snowflake that if you don't agree with him, he shuts down the argument through insults and even more severe action that he takes against people who criticize him.

[Hasan Minhaj]

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[Hasan Minhaj]

I want to put a pin in that because what you're talking about, and you've been talking about this publicly, which is like political savviness, how to be an effective politician. I want to talk about your book first. Can I do that?

[Chris Christie]

Whatever you like.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Okay, so in 2024, you wrote this book. What Would Reagan Do? Life Lessons from the Last Great President. You are nostalgic for the Reagan era, but I have a question for you. Aren't we kind of living through a Reagan era right now? I mean, Ronald Reagan, famously, with Latin America back to war with Iran, interest rates were out of control. Now look at that time was 20%. It's like 6ish right now. But doesn't it feel kind of Reagan ish?

[Chris Christie]

No. No. Were you alive during Reagan?

[Hasan Minhaj]

I was alive during Reagan, yeah.

[Chris Christie]

How old?

[Hasan Minhaj]

I was born 85.

[Chris Christie]

Yeah, right. So you didn't have a conscious memory before Reagan left?

[Hasan Minhaj]

Tell me. Tell me about it. Because I remember Rocky iv. All they gotta do is bring that back. And Stallone is still cooking on Yellowstone.

[Chris Christie]

Stallone is not.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Not Yellowstone. Sorry. I'm sorry.

[Chris Christie]

Tulsa King.

[Hasan Minhaj]

How dare I?

[Chris Christie]

How dare you?

[Hasan Minhaj]

You're right.

[Chris Christie]

Is pissed speaking.

[Hasan Minhaj]

That's where that. That's where we draw the line. The draft King stuff. Don't worry about it.

[Chris Christie]

I'm not going to let you. I'm not going to let you put Sylvester Stallone in Yellowstone. That's where I. You're lucky I don't get up and

[Hasan Minhaj]

walk out on no sly slander here.

[Chris Christie]

Hey, put the cuffs on, please. No cuffs necessary.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Okay?

[Chris Christie]

Just get it right. That's all we're asking.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Okay?

[Chris Christie]

No, look, the. The Reagan ear if significantly different regarding our alliances around the world. What Reagan did around the world was to bring our alliances together. And folks work together in those times with foreign governments all across our alliances in Asia, in Western Europe.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Is your argument a call for decorum? The decorum of Reagan on the international.

[Chris Christie]

Reagan actually did things. Reagan reformed Social Security and compromised with Democrats to reform Social Security. Reagan had a number of different actions when he was president on taxes and in other ways where he actually worked with Democrats, worked with Tip o' Neill to bring people together. You don't See any of that now? In fact, what you see is people who vote with the other party from my party are subject to the President going after them in primaries, as we just saw happen with Bill Cassidy yet just a few days ago.

[Hasan Minhaj]

And to be fair, he was very different. Reagan was very different on the issue of immigration as well.

[Chris Christie]

Significantly different. No tariffs under Ronald Reagan.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Right.

[Chris Christie]

He was absolutely opposed to that. Wanted to have free trade around the world and didn't want to put tariffs up in the same way that Trump is doing it. Spoke very eloquently about that as well. A totally different set of circumstances under Ronald Reagan than under Donald Trump.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Governor, how do you feel about basically the idea that Donald Trump essentially stole the tagline? I mean, Reagan was let's make America great again. And Trump is make America great again. What's your analysis on that?

[Chris Christie]

Are we surprised that Donald Trump appropriated something and then claims it as his own? I'm not. Ronald Reagan for president. Let's make America great again. Tonight we're beginning to do what is right and what is necessary to make America great again.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Well, I think it was oddly kind of fitting. Let's make America great again. Very welcoming. Let's. Hey, let's go get Korean barbecue.

[Chris Christie]

Governor, let us.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Let us. Let us. There's a great Korean barbecue spot right downstairs. Let us.

[Chris Christie]

And by the way, it was not the central part. Reagan didn't make it a slogan. He made it an aspiration.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah.

[Chris Christie]

And that's significantly different because Reagan makes it about all about everybody.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah.

[Chris Christie]

Trump makes it about himself.

[Hasan Minhaj]

But it's an ask to let us.

[Chris Christie]

It's an ask rather than demand. But it's also the implication, from my perspective, is that Reagan wants to work with everybody.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah.

[Chris Christie]

Trump is demanding it be the way he wants it to be.

[Hasan Minhaj]

So you've been writing about this for a long time. Obviously, this is your 2024 book, but you also wrote a memoir in 2021, and you've been talking about this idea, these ideals of what America can be, but what the Republican Party can be. In your 2021 memoir, Republican Rescue, you wrote, our party has core values that matter. We believe in honesty and integrity, facts and fair play. We don't smear innocent people. We don't make wild accusations, and we can't tolerate people who do. Just like we can't align ourselves with violence, corruption, abuse, or racism. That is not who we are. I'm sorry, what party are you talking about here?

[Chris Christie]

Yeah, no, that was my view of my party pre Donald Trump.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You would admit, though, that the Republican Party has descended into a lot of these things.

[Chris Christie]

That's why I wrote the book. It's called Republican Rescue.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I got you.

[Chris Christie]

Yeah.

[Hasan Minhaj]

So hypothetically, let's just say, look, Governor, you're out of office. I have a YouTube show. I'm available. Let's say you and I, we team up, we work on a fiction book, Okay?

[Chris Christie]

A fiction book.

[Hasan Minhaj]

A fiction now, kind of the way Bill Clinton's doing fiction right now, where it's grounded fiction. Hypothetically, let's say we write a character. Now, I know you think I'm a young man, but I got an old soul. Let's say we write a character that's kind of like Archie Bunker. Our younger viewers aren't going to get this, but I'm telling you, do your comedy due diligence. Archie Bunker was a great comedic character. Kind of a well intentioned bigot, but like, you know, bigotry, light, sometimes useful calorie. If we were to write an Archie Bunker character in our book.

[Chris Christie]

Yep.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Which party do you think he would lean towards in 2026 in his type of bigotry?

[Chris Christie]

Could be either. Could be either party.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You're telling me 2026, Archie Bunker is voting for Zoram Hamdani. Voting for AOC, voting for Bernie Sanders.

[Chris Christie]

Oh, he might vote for Bernie Sanders. Listen to Bernie Sanders. He might vote for Bernie. And remember, a lot of the same.

[Hasan Minhaj]

It's a grounded. This is a grounded fiction.

[Chris Christie]

No, a lot of the same people who voted for Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary, why they're voting for Donald Trump in the general, just look it up. It is absolutely the case. Populism is populism. And whether it has a liberal bent or a conservative bent, a lot of the same people who were Bernie Sanders people turned around and would not vote for Hillary Clinton and in fact voted for Donald Trump. And the polling numbers are there to show it.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I just think.

[Chris Christie]

I know what you think. Your question was not very veiled. I know what you think. Okay? So you don't need to clue me in on that here. I disagree with you. Okay? I believe that there are bigots in both parties and I believe that this populism movement on both sides have created a horrible, toxic culture. Is Donald Trump the king of that? Yes, he is, but there are a lot of people.

[Hasan Minhaj]

But you're also saying Bernie Sanders is contributing to this as well.

[Chris Christie]

There's no doubt that Bernie Sanders contributed to it. And by the way, Bernie Sanders voters

[Hasan Minhaj]

walking carton of Ben and Jerry's. What are you talking about?

[Chris Christie]

Bernie Sanders voters elected Donald Trump in 2016. All you have to do is go and look at the numbers. That's what happened. You're right.

[Hasan Minhaj]

There were some.

[Chris Christie]

So I guess people, I guess they were okay with Donald Trump's brand of what he was selling. And you know why? Because much of it was the same

[Hasan Minhaj]

as Bernie's in Republican rescue. Yes, you went off on Marjorie Taylor Greene.

[Chris Christie]

I did.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Have you apologized since?

[Chris Christie]

No.

[Hasan Minhaj]

What? She's on the View all the time. You guys haven't pulled up at the studio.

[Chris Christie]

I have seen Marjorie Taylor Greene in years. So no, I have not apologized to Marjorie Taylor Greene. In fact, I've only met her once.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You had some very choice words for her. How do you feel about her evolution? She's changed as well, Governor.

[Chris Christie]

Look, I think that Marjorie Taylor Greene's evolution is her own personal evolution. And if she's more comfortable being in the place where she is now, I commend her for her willingness to change. I don't know if it's really genuine or not, but I have to take her at her word. So if it is good for her.

[Hasan Minhaj]

She's one of the few Republican voices out there right now that is strongly critiquing Donald Trump. Do you consider her an ally now?

[Chris Christie]

No, I said I don't know her. So I don't make someone an ally until I actually get to meet them and have a deep conversation with them about what they really feel and believe.

[Hasan Minhaj]

So how many convos would it take?

[Chris Christie]

Realistically, I really don't know.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Really.

[Chris Christie]

Having never spoken to her.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Okay.

[Chris Christie]

Except to say hello at an event one day, I wouldn't know.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Do you think maybe. Look, I'm not going to put your guys friendship or lack thereof on trial here. What I'm really trying to get is do you think that people like Marjorie Taylor Greene defecting from the Republican base and now critiquing the president, do you think that's part of a larger shift within the Republican base and specifically within young Republicans being anti war?

[Chris Christie]

Well, I think I said that earlier when I said you went from 95% of Republicans to 70% of Republicans. I think there is a shift going on. And I think that shift's only going to get more significant as the rest of his second term goes on. And if she's a part of that, I sense with her it may have been more personal than it was philosophical. But however you want to go and give honest and effective critiques of the president, I'm in favor of if you're going to do it from an honest perspective. And they're gonna be relevant critiques, not just ad hominems.

[Hasan Minhaj]

One of the things that I gotta give you credit for is you are willing to go into the lion's den, the belly of the beast of your own party, and sometimes be booed. I wanna show you a couple of clips of you going head to head with the Republican base, but I would love your thoughts about what kind of what's happening.

[Chris Christie]

Feel free.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Let's take a look.

[Chris Christie]

The conduct is beneath the office of President of the United.

[Commercial/Announcer]

And.

[Chris Christie]

And you know, this is the great thing about this country. Booing is allowed, but it doesn't change the truth. It doesn't change the truth. Your anger against the truth is reprehensible. The problem is you fear the truth. The problem is you want to shout down any voice that says anything different than what you want to hear.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Your anger at the truth is reprehensible.

[Commercial/Announcer]

Boo.

[Hasan Minhaj]

That's me with my parents at Thanksgiving. I'm telling you, I'm like, mom, that is an AI photo of Keanu Reeves.

[Chris Christie]

Boo.

[Hasan Minhaj]

And I go, mom, your anger at the truth is reprehensible.

[Chris Christie]

Well, I wouldn't have raised the AI photo of Keanu Reeves to that level, but if you want to, that's cool.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Well, for real, like, in all honesty, for me, as a comedian, one of my biggest fears is bombing or getting booed on stage. For you to go into your own base, these are your essentially your fans, and go, hey, the way you're thinking about this is wrong. I gotta give you credit, but what in your life shaped that mentality? Very few politicians would be willing to do this.

[Chris Christie]

The way I was raised was that you are who you are. Don't pretend to be something else. My mother used to say to me all the time, be yourself. That tomorrow you don't have to try to remember who you pretended to be yesterday. And I remember that lesson from my mom very clearly. And I think that those moments were. It's what I believed. And I knew in both of those times, both the debate in 2024 and then the Florida convention that was in 23 in Kissimmee, Florida. I knew I wasn't going in there to get a round of applause. But what was your goal? What do you think? Was to make them hear it. Someone needed to say it. I mean, one of the biggest reasons I ran in 2024 was you get lots of people in my party who will whisper it to you in green rooms at cocktail parties, but they won't say it. Out loud. I was going to be the guy to say it out loud because it's what I believed.

[Hasan Minhaj]

But you, you also still believe. You must have a belief that you can turn the room as well. Did you believe that you could turn the room?

[Chris Christie]

No, not that day. You have to have a long term view of this and I have a long term view of it. I think it'll turn, but it's not going to turn that day. But you got to start laying the groundwork. It doesn't happen like that.

[Hasan Minhaj]

So you're telling your team, look, I'm going to sit in the shit. They're going to put this on TikTok, I'm going to get memed. But I have a long term vision that there's some, let's call it, Mitt Romney version of the Republican Party that I'm fighting towards. I'm trying to connect with the rational, reasonable Republican base.

[Chris Christie]

Yeah, my team was thrilled that I was willing to do it. That's why they were my team.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Do you think the Republican voters want the truth?

[Chris Christie]

Well, certainly not all of them right now. Probably not a majority of them right now. But you know what, you know what forces people to have to listen to the truth? Losing, losing forces you politically to have to listen to the truth. And I think we're on our way to a monumental defeat as a party in the 2026 midterms. And when that happens, I think people, for practical reasons will begin to reevaluate whether they really want to continue to hear the things that led to the losing or they want to hear some different ideas, a different approach.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Do you really think the Democrats have a chance to win the 2026 midterms in a major way?

[Chris Christie]

Oh, I think they'll win the House. And frankly, I think they've got a better chance at the Senate today than I thought they would have given the map. And if Ken Paxson, the attorney general of Texas, wins his primary against Senator Cornyn, then I think it puts Texas in play as well in the Senate. So they could have enhanced chance of that.

[Hasan Minhaj]

One of the things that people have said about you is that you are right now this Democratic Party whisperer. You're making allies and you're the same way you coached Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020. Sometimes you also reach out to Democratic leadership to give them advice.

[Chris Christie]

I've always reached out to Democratic leadership, always.

[Hasan Minhaj]

What type of advice would you give them right now as they prep for

[Chris Christie]

the midterms, Stop talking about Donald Trump, start laying out for people what you would do differently. And I think too many Democrats, I think this was Kamala Harris biggest mistake in 2024, where she spent all this time talking about what a threat to democracy Donald Trump was. The people who believed that, and it was their most important issue, were already voting for her. She needed to talk to that slice of independents, disaffected Republicans, and skeptical Democrats that probably amounted to about 8 to 10% of the voters who are like, we really don't want Trump again. Biden was a failure. Tell me how you're going to be different. We talked about the View. I mean, I never saw a Democratic politician go on the View and cough it up as badly as she did, you know? And they say to her, can you tell us a way you'd be different than President Biden? And she said, I can't think of one. I mean, that was a layup.

[Hasan Minhaj]

She blew a layup.

[Chris Christie]

Yeah, that was a layup. Totally blew it. But worse, continued it as she went on. So I think people in the Democratic Party, if they want to be successful, need to speak to something other than Donald Trump. The Donald Trump case for most Democrats and Democratic leaders have been made. It's over. It's been made. What you need to get to win is that swath of independents who say, we don't trust either of you. What are you gonna tell me? What are you gonna show me to allow me to trust you?

[Hasan Minhaj]

In a recent interview, you said that the problem with the Democrats is they have no new good ideas. So I'm gonna throw you some ideas that Democrats could adopt, and you tell me if you think they're good ideas, okay? Because I'm in agreement with you. The public and the populace want to build towards something. So how about this? You tell me if this is a good idea or not. Stop Congress from trading stocks.

[Chris Christie]

Good idea.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Fantastic. Medicare for all.

[Chris Christie]

No. No. I do not believe in the government running the entire healthcare system.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Cut the Pentagon budget.

[Chris Christie]

No.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Universal childcare.

[Chris Christie]

Universal childcare paid by the taxpayers? Is that what you're saying? Because, look, I think every child should be cared for.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yes.

[Chris Christie]

Are you telling me that that should all be paid for by the taxpayers?

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yes.

[Chris Christie]

No.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Aren't they all of our.

[Chris Christie]

No, they're not. All of our children.

[Hasan Minhaj]

They are. This is a society we live in. I'm totally.

[Chris Christie]

No, they're not.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Governor, I'm down to pay.

[Chris Christie]

They're not. They're not all our children. They're not.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I'm down to pay for other people's kids. I promise you.

[Chris Christie]

I don't want to pay for. And you already are. You already are through taxes. You pay locally at the state level, but you're asking about universal childcare to be paid for for every child by the taxpayers. And my answer is no.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Okay, I disagree.

[Chris Christie]

Fabulous.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Abolish ice.

[Chris Christie]

No.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Okay, how about this?

[Chris Christie]

Just run it the right way.

[Hasan Minhaj]

And I knew you were gonna do this.

[Chris Christie]

How about run it the right way?

[Hasan Minhaj]

So how about this is. All I'm saying is when I see a Dodge Caravan P with people in ski masks just grabbing an older Mexican

[Chris Christie]

lady that's running at the wrong way.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Can we not do it?

[Chris Christie]

That's running the wrong way.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Okay?

[Chris Christie]

Immigration and Customs Enforcement has a legitimate purpose in our country. It's not being used that way now because the President is using it illegitimately and I would argue illegally.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Governor, I have two dudes that I went to high school with that have joined ice. Let me tell you, it's not the brightest of the bunch. That's all I want to say. Hey, I can only speak to what I know.

[Chris Christie]

And knowing bad hiring practices by the Trump administration, that bureaucracy, obviously, you know, the chainsaw didn't cut that part out.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Get the government to produce generic versions of life saving drugs.

[Chris Christie]

Get the government to produce.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Come on. Yes.

[Chris Christie]

No. What's the government know about producing generic life saving drugs? What do they know?

[Hasan Minhaj]

You can't make them.

[Chris Christie]

Who are the experts at the government? Who you're going to trust? You're going to take that drug? I'd rather have it produced by people who have degrees that actually know what they're doing.

[Hasan Minhaj]

My mother's a physician, she does watch us on YouTube. And Governor, she will probably be inviting you to Thanksgiving. I'm telling you, the government can make a CVS branded acetaminophen. If CVS can do it. If you can do a non name

[Chris Christie]

a life saving drug. Is that what we got going now? That acetaminophen.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You understand what I'm saying? You can die from fever, you can make non name brand insulin. This can be something that can be provided to the people. The fact that it is astronomically higher in Canada is insane.

[Chris Christie]

Governor, with all due respect, what's astronomically higher in Canada?

[Hasan Minhaj]

The price of. The price of insulin here in America. Sorry.

[Chris Christie]

And I didn't want you to be looking stupid, so I wanted to make sure I helped you out there.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I appreciate that.

[Chris Christie]

It's astronomically higher in the United States of America.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah. And it's much lower in Canada.

[Chris Christie]

And I'm saying what I'm saying Why

[Hasan Minhaj]

can't we do the RC Cola, by the way?

[Chris Christie]

And the Canadian government doesn't make the insulin. Okay, your question was have the government make life saving drugs, Generic life saving drugs. I don't trust.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Can we have someone.

[Chris Christie]

I actually listened to you and I took your question literally.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Thank you. What if the government pays for it? How about that? So the right people make it.

[Chris Christie]

The government pays. The government pays for a lot of it now, okay, Through Medicare Part D and Medicaid for people who are most in need, are elderly and are impoverished. And I think that that should continue. Okay?

[Hasan Minhaj]

Prevent poverty.

[Chris Christie]

I don't think they need to pay for it for me. And you, though, you got a nice suit there. We don't need to pay for it.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah, don't pay for me. Governor, I've said this. This is the same way I feel about universal childcare. My kids are totally fine.

[Chris Christie]

I am totally down for universal childcare. Say childcare for those who need it, that's a different story. You're saying you're using words that imply everyone. And I don't think people who are doing very well in this country should have the government taking over paying for their drugs, paying for their childcare. I should pay for my prescription drugs, so should you. I should pay for my childcare, so should you.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Okay, how about this? Let me pitch a better way to do it because I know you can get caught into the talking points of it.

[Chris Christie]

Not the talking points. I'm just listening to your question and answering it.

[Hasan Minhaj]

How about this? I got it. You've had this with friends. But if you need it, I got you.gov and I feel like childcare is in need, health care is in need.

[Chris Christie]

I'm good.

[Hasan Minhaj]

But if you need it, I got

[Chris Christie]

you.gov I got you.gov if you need

[Hasan Minhaj]

it, I got you.gov.

[Chris Christie]

not only if you need it, but if you show that you can't pay for it yourself. That's what Medicaid is, an expanded Medicaid, which I expanded in New Jersey. That's what Medicare is for the elderly who are now on a fixed income and need it. We have that stuff now.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Okay, how about this? Preventing politicians from profiting off of former connections that they had while they were in office, once they leave office.

[Chris Christie]

I mean, conceptually, sure, you know, but how, for how long and how do these folks do what they do when they get out? But conceptually, yeah, I have no problem with that.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Okay. I mean, look, I appreciate that.

[Chris Christie]

Well, I. I'm sure because I know

[Hasan Minhaj]

life's more Fun when you get in on the action.

[Chris Christie]

Yeah, well, I know. Very nice. So I worked for DraftKings. Congratulations. And by the way, that wasn't a connection that I made when I was in government.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I'm just saying the timeline is pretty interesting.

[Chris Christie]

Why would it be so interesting to you?

[Hasan Minhaj]

It was. I mean, the paint was drying. I mean, it was literally. It was pretty short after you leaving office, which is interesting. It's just an interesting.

[Chris Christie]

I couldn't take any jobs while I was in office.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I'm saying I've gone through breakups that had a longer gap. That's all I'm saying.

[Chris Christie]

Governor, I'm confident you have, but I don't know what the relevance of it is.

[Hasan Minhaj]

All right. The relevance is, by the way, some of the stuff that we've kind of butted heads on. And look, you're probably gonna run for office again. I'm telling you. This is me to you. With all due respect, these are popular policies within the American public.

[Chris Christie]

I understand that. Just because something's popular, if you don't favor it. This is the problem with your view of politics. If it's popular, you should be in charge of it. That's why you like Bernie Sanders. That's what populism is. Leaders listen to what's popular and then just do it, whether they think it's good or not. That, to me, is not what leadership is. Leadership is using the judgment you've developed over time to make decisions on behalf of people. Because we don't have a direct democracy. We have a republic. You elect people to use their judgment and to make decisions, and if you don't like the judgment they exercise, you can vote them out.

[Hasan Minhaj]

So when you're. What you're saying is, when you say Democrats should adopt good policies, you don't mean popular policies. Do you mean basically Republican policies?

[Chris Christie]

No. No. And, in fact, I agreed with a number of the things in there that would be called Democratic policies. So. No.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Is there anything that would make you vote for a Democrat?

[Chris Christie]

Sure. Sure, there is. Yeah.

[Hasan Minhaj]

What collection of issues do you think

[Chris Christie]

it would depend on?

[Hasan Minhaj]

The people, really.

[Chris Christie]

I vote for the people. So if there was a Democrat who was running, who I thought, give me

[Hasan Minhaj]

your Infinity Stones, it'd just be five. It's just five. It's five. Infinity Stones.

[Chris Christie]

Explain. Infinity Stones. I don't know what they are.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Infinity stones. So in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thanos collects the Infinity Stones, which is his way of basically ending all of civilization. What I'm trying to do is I'm talking about A positive version of it, which would be a way to help all of American civilization. What are your infinity stones? So mine would be, like, universal childcare, health care, education, and two more that I'd probably ask my sister for advice on.

[Chris Christie]

Honesty, integrity, a strong national defense, a safety net for those who are underprivileged, and a legal system, system that makes sure that justice is done fairly and equitably for everyone.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Honesty and integrity, you could kind of collapse that into one.

[Chris Christie]

There's two different things.

[Hasan Minhaj]

That's great. One of the things that you've talked quite a bit about is this idea of people being politically talented. You're very good at identifying who is politically talented and who isn't. What does politically talented mean to you?

[Chris Christie]

At its basic core, the ability to connect with people. Okay, now, there's lots of others, but. Yeah, yeah, but at its core, that is. That is the indispensable part of political talent. You can add onto it with other abilities. But to me, the indispensable part of political talent is the ability to connect with other people. And we're live on Matchday as Doug reaches for a Buffalo wing. He's got it. Oh, and he's gone for a can of Pepsi, too. What a finish. There's no doubt about it. It just tastes better. Match Days deserve Pepsi.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Can you share this Bill Clinton story? Because you famously said Bill Clinton was incredibly politically talented.

[Chris Christie]

He's the gold standard, okay? In my opinion, a lot of people

[Hasan Minhaj]

who watch the show know Bill Clinton basically as the dude who essentially fell asleep during the Democratic National Convention that has recently become vegan. And then for some reason, there's way too many photos of him getting massages at airports by women that aren't his wife. That's what they know him as. Again, I'm a 90s baby. I grew up in the 90s. I'm talking about fiscal surplus. Everyone in the Sacramento area has a Ford Explorer or Ford Expedition Eddie Bauer edition. This was the golden age of America. Or it was my childhood and I'm just having recency bias.

[Chris Christie]

That being said, probably a little bit of both.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Tell your Bill Clinton story. That made you say that?

[Chris Christie]

Well, it was the first time I met Bill Clinton in person. As it happened, it was at Donald Trump's wedding to Melania. You forgot that part of the story, or maybe you didn't. You're just feigning amazement.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I'm doing it for the reaction shot. I knew it was at that point. Now, the response, if I really wanted to get it cooking, was which Wedding. But I don't want to derail you.

[Chris Christie]

You are professional. So we were at the wedding with Bill and Hillary. Don King, Shaquille o', Neal, Tony Bennett, Billy Joel. It was quite the heavy hitters. The way I would put it is quite the menagerie. You know, I like that word. Okay. And Bill and Hillary were two of the guests. And during the cocktail hour, it was probably about 300 people at the wedding, during the cocktail hour, I observed two things. No one knew who I was. I was the.

[Hasan Minhaj]

They didn't know who you were?

[Chris Christie]

No, because I was the relatively new. This was in January of 2005. I was watching. It gave me an opportunity not to participate, but to observe.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Okay.

[Chris Christie]

And what I observed was at one point, Bill and Hillary Clinton. Hillary. There were pillars in the room. Hillary stood kind of with her back to a pillar with a staff member with her, and she was receiving people for handshakes and photos. And then they were being moved away from her. Her husband, the former President of the United States, was working the room. He was going from person to person to person and stopping and speaking to them. And I said to my wife, that's why he was a two term president. And she never will be in that room, in that room at that time. I said, she'll never be president. And the reason she'll never be president is she expects like a queen, everybody to come to her. When he who has been president twice. Twice is walking around to every person in that room to say hello and to talk to them briefly, a minute, minute and a half.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Now, he came up to you.

[Chris Christie]

He did.

[Hasan Minhaj]

What did he.

[Chris Christie]

My wife and I. He said, hi, Bill Clinton, what's your name? And I said, I'm Chris Christie. Mr. President, it's an honor to meet you. And he said, chris, Chris, what do you do for a living? And I said, I'm actually the United States Attorney in New Jersey. Oh, I'm not gonna. God. Always wanted that job. Always wanted to be U.S. attorney. Never got to be it because, you know, I was Attorney General of Arkansas, of course, Governor of Arkansas, President, of course. But I always wanted to be U.S. attorney. What an amazing job. I said, it is a great job, sir. And he then turned to my wife and he said, sweetheart, what's your name? And she said, my name is Mary Pat. Mary Pat, what do you do for a living? And she said, well, I work on Wall Street. While he was shaking her hand, he turned over his shoulder to where I was and he said, you dog. Beautiful and rich.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Okay then, huh?

[Chris Christie]

At that time, he calls you a dog. Yeah, he's shaking. He's shaking her hand, and he is rubbing her other forearm with his hand. And he says. He says to her, darla, let me tell you something about your husband. She's U.S. attorney. He's an ambitious guy. That means he's going to have a career in this business after this. But the only way he could be successful if he has a good woman who knows how to treat him right. I'm sure you are. And she goes, well, I do my best, Mr. President. And he said, well, it's such a pleasure to meet both of you. Really, really, really, really mean it, and thank you, and have a great time tonight. Boom. Walked away. My wife looked at me after that, and she goes, I never voted for him neither time. But I can see why people say he's charming, because in that moment, she said when he was talking to her, she felt like there was nobody else in the room. He was locked on her eyes. He's rubbing her arm, he's complimenting her. And then he. Boom. Like the wind, he was gone. And on to the next. He has an amazing ability to connect with people. All the questions were about us. No comments about himself other than he always wanted to be a U.S. attorney. He had this ability to connect with people very quickly.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Did you also feel charmed?

[Chris Christie]

Well, in a bit, because of who he was. I have admiration for someone who gets to the presidency, but, yeah, you can't help but like him. And I've seen him any number of times after that, and he's the same kind of charming. He remembers things about you that are kind of crazy that he remembers. And. And I think he's the kind of guy who can definitely charm. And he charmed me, for sure.

[Hasan Minhaj]

So you're basically saying he's cool and

[Chris Christie]

charming, at least those two things, and certainly a number of other things.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Have you hung out with a black dude before?

[Chris Christie]

Sure.

[Hasan Minhaj]

With all due respect, Governor, there's two black dudes that work at CVS downstairs. They're way cooler than Bill Clinton, and they remember everything about me.

[Chris Christie]

They very well may be, but they were President of the United States.

[Hasan Minhaj]

In one sentence, they'll hit me. They go, hey, what's up, Eyebrows? I saw that YouTube short you did with May Hassan. In one second.

[Chris Christie]

Yeah.

[Hasan Minhaj]

In one sentence, they summarized the content that I've done as of a couple months ago, and they identified me by my bushy brows.

[Chris Christie]

Tremendous.

[Hasan Minhaj]

But I feel great about myself.

[Chris Christie]

I. I think that's an interesting analogy, but not necessarily Apt. All right. But, you know, I'm saying. But you're a comedian, so it's good.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I'm saying the dudes that work at CVS are funnier than 85% of the comedians I know, and they're more charming than 100% of the population.

[Chris Christie]

Here's the difference with the guys at CVS and you and Bill Clinton, you get up on the stage and do it in front of a whole bunch of people. It's a lot easier to do it one on one. The people who can do that, the one on one thing, and do the thing in front of hundreds, if not thousands of people, that's a different talent.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Who are the politicians that you see right now that have that political skill of being incredibly.

[Chris Christie]

Clinton level political skill?

[Hasan Minhaj]

The Clinton level political talent in Europe?

[Chris Christie]

I don't see anybody right now who has that level of talent.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You don't think that Zoran Mamdani, what he pulled off was a level of talent and political tenacity that was unheard?

[Chris Christie]

Oh, it clearly was. But I don't think Bill Clinton sustained that level of ability over a long period of time while also getting himself in, you know, all sorts of trouble. Different jams.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Sure.

[Chris Christie]

Right. But was.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Jams is a nice way to describe impeachment.

[Chris Christie]

Thank you.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I like that.

[Chris Christie]

And. And it was more than impeachment for his jams. Sure, sure.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Quite the pickle.

[Chris Christie]

He got himself in a number of problems. Number of pickles, and was able to, in fact, continue to sustain his connection with people.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Yeah.

[Chris Christie]

And we'll see if Zoron could do that if he can.

[Hasan Minhaj]

See you don't see aoc no chance. She's certainly very charming.

[Chris Christie]

I don't find her charming, but if you do, that's good. She's won in a congressional district he was elected president of the United States, and she's won in a district it's impossible to lose in. So I would give mom Donnie much, much more credit than aoc so in

[Hasan Minhaj]

conclusion, I just wanted to kind of wrap it up here. You gave Donald Trump an A on Hannity for his job as president.

[Chris Christie]

Yeah.

[Hasan Minhaj]

What grade would you give me for this interview?

[Chris Christie]

Oh, I'd give you probably an A. Minus. Some of your stuff is imprecise, but other than that. Yeah, yeah, you got.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Look, I could have tightened it up. Look, I could have tightened it up like the people on January 6th did.

[Chris Christie]

Well, you could have done a whole bunch of.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You could have been more effective in my mission.

[Chris Christie]

Well, you could have been more. Listen, I think you've Been very effective in your mission. I think you're underselling yourself in that way. My minus would have only been for, you know, some of the language you used that was a little bit loose, that you had to go back and tighten up.

[Hasan Minhaj]

That is fair.

[Chris Christie]

That is fair, the use of language. But other than that, I think you've been pretty good in your mission. Absolutely.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You know what, Governor, I gotta say, and I want. And I really want to say this genuinely, I want to say thank you for coming on the show. We've been trying to get you on the show for a long time. I appreciate how you're willing to grapple and deal with difficult subject matter, and I appreciate you engaging with both sides of the aisle, and I appreciate you dealing with Joy Behar because she has been tough on me, and she won't come on the show.

[Chris Christie]

Joy will not come on this show.

[Hasan Minhaj]

We've been trying.

[Chris Christie]

I don't understand why we've been trying. You two, I think, would be an interesting interview to watch because she's, you know, she has her own tenacity to her as well.

[Hasan Minhaj]

She's a scrapper as well.

[Chris Christie]

Yeah, she's a bit of a scrapper.

[Hasan Minhaj]

She's a scrapper.

[Chris Christie]

But, you know, look, I think that the, you know, the A in the interview for me shows you two things. One, that I'm willing to listen to anybody who has some credible things to say sitting across from me, and two, that I'm probably an easy grader.

[Hasan Minhaj]

That is true. Governor, do you mind doing me a favor? Do you know who Ronny Chang is? The comedian Ronny Chang.

[Chris Christie]

I've heard of him, but I don't know.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You don't need to research any further. He was named after Ronald Reagan.

[Chris Christie]

Wow.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Can you sign this book in his eye?

[Chris Christie]

How about this? How about if I do better? Because whoever got that book for Ronnie obviously cheap. Gets him the paperback. Yeah, yeah. I've got some hardcovers of that.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You want the hardcover?

[Chris Christie]

No, no, no.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You need Ronnie, the hardcover.

[Chris Christie]

Excuse me. I'm gonna provide the hardcover for Ronnie, so you give me.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Governor, he doesn't need it.

[Chris Christie]

Oh, no.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Remember, we only provide people who need it.

[Chris Christie]

No, no, no, no. Well, no, Charitably. Pardon me? Charitably. I could provide.

[Hasan Minhaj]

No, no, no.

[Chris Christie]

Whatever I want to have.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Money doesn't need to be a part of the nanny state. He needs to get his mouth off the government's titty.

[Chris Christie]

Well, it's not the government. You see, this is me.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You're a former elected official.

[Chris Christie]

This is me. The key Word here.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Former is former.

[Chris Christie]

And this is again, this is why you got named Minus. It's the imprecision of your points that make you fail. Sure. But despite that, I'm gonna do this for Ronnie. Cuz Ronnie's not here and he doesn't know that you were gonna be imprecise in what you did. So you give me. Either I can send it here.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Sure.

[Chris Christie]

Or if you feel free, give me Ronnie's address. I will send a signed copy of the book. But a hardcover book for Ronald Reagan, because if he's named after Ronald Reagan, he deserves hardcover. I'll get. Okay.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I'll have you send him the hardcover.

[Chris Christie]

That'd be fabulous.

[Hasan Minhaj]

And you know what he hates?

[Chris Christie]

You know what else he hates?

[Hasan Minhaj]

Putting his address on the Internet. I'll gladly report it on the Internet. I'm gonna put it out on the Internet.

[Chris Christie]

No reason.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Because it was requested by Governor Christie.

[Chris Christie]

I will do that. It was not requested.

[Hasan Minhaj]

What?

[Chris Christie]

It was not requested to put it on the Internet.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Okay.

[Chris Christie]

It was to give it to me.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Sure.

[Chris Christie]

And having been U.S. attorney, I know how to treat things with the utmost confidentiality.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Okay.

[Chris Christie]

But if anyone is uncomfortable about that, I'll send it to this place. Sure. And then you can give it to Ronnie whichever way. But I don't want Ronnie to be sitting around with a paper.

[Hasan Minhaj]

All right. As we know, that's outrageous. Yeah. And as we know, kind of American elected officials have never had their emails hacked. So it'll be super secure when I

[Chris Christie]

send it to you again. What I said to you was give it to me. I didn't say email it to me.

[Hasan Minhaj]

You want me to write it down on paper?

[Chris Christie]

That would be something that would be very secure.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Sounds good.

[Chris Christie]

If you wanted to. Because I know you're concerned about security, may screw up your joke, but on the other hand, if you're genuinely concerned about Ronnie's security, you give it to me on a piece of paper and then I will have it absolutely thrown into a fireplace and burnt so that no one will ever have that. Who doesn't deserve to have that address?

[Hasan Minhaj]

Governor will do.

[Chris Christie]

They'll have it.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I think it's safe to say you love Ronny Chenko.

[Chris Christie]

Let me say this. I don't know Ronny Chang, but I love the fact that he was named after Ronald Reagan and I treat him with enough respect to know that. You want to get in a paperback book bringing him the hardcover cheapo.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Let's give him the hardcore.

[Chris Christie]

That's not right.

[Hasan Minhaj]

I'm the cheapskate.

[Chris Christie]

Look, nice suit, great shoes, spend a couple of bucks. But because you've been so good to me on this interview, I'm giving you the book. Not you. I'm giving it to Ronnie.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Give it to him.

[Chris Christie]

You can keep that one if you want and do whatever you might want with it.

[Hasan Minhaj]

Governor Chris Christie, thank you for being on the show.

[Chris Christie]

Hassan, thank you very much.

[Hasan Minhaj]

This has been a long time coming, ladies and gentlemen. I told you guys, this guy will scrap. My man will scrap. They don't build him like you, Governor.

[Chris Christie]

Well, you know, many, Many would say that it's good that they don't, but I, you know, I enjoy who I

[Hasan Minhaj]

ship.