New Jersey Governor Chris Christie turned down an offer from the Republican leadership to deliver the official Republican response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address, The Auditor/Star-Ledger is reporting.
“They tried to see if there was interest, and there wasn’t any,” Chris Christie’s personal aide William Palatucci, the source of the story, said. Palatucci told The Auditor that Christie’s desire not to involve himself in the federal debate was the reason he declined the offer.
With a potential eye on a 2012 White House run, Christie may have chosen not to deliver the address after Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal gave a response in 2009 to the State of the Union that was coldly received by political pundits, including Republicans, and was thought to be the main cause of the halted Jindal for president discussion.
Instead, Wisconsin Republican Rep. Paul Ryan, chairman of the powerful House Budget Committee, will give the Republican response to Obama’s State of the Union address on January 25.