On Sunday’s “Meet the Press” on NBC, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said that Former Speaker of House Newt Gingrich “has embarrassed the party over time,” and that “we don’t need another legislature in the Oval Office.” In the Republican primaries, Christie has been an outspoken advocate for former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. (RELATED: Gingrich wins big in South Carolina, heads to Florida as race heats up)
“The fact of the matter is, from my perspective — not as a member of the establishment, David, but has a governor — I know we don’t need another legislator in the Oval Office,” Christie said. “We have had one for the last three years who doesn’t have the first idea of how to use executive power or bring Congress together. We’ve had the worst years of Congress in my lifetime because this president refuses to get in the room, roll up his sleeves and get the hard work done. We do not need another legislator in the Oval Office who does not know how to use executive authority. We need an executive, someone who both in private sector and as a governor, understands how to bring people together and use executive power. The speaker simply does not have that experience. He’s never run anything.” (RELATED: Hume: Republicans in Congress will be ‘terrified to run’ with Gingrich, will ‘try to defeat him’ [VIDEO])
But that led “Meet the Press” moderator David Gregory to ask his guest if Gingrich’s past performance might be repeated:
GREGORY: Do you think Newt Gingrich will embarrass the party?
CHRISTIE: I think Newt Gingrich has embarrassed the party over time. Whether he’ll do again in the future, I don’t know. But Gov. Romney never has.
GREGORY: You say he has embarrassed the party. How, and where do you worry he might do it again, that makes him unelectable?
CHRISTIE: David, we all know the record. I mean, he was run out of the speakership of his own party. He was fined $300,000 for ethics violations. This is a guy that has had a very difficult political career at times and it has been an embarrassment to the party. You remember those times because you were here. So the fact of the matter is, I don’t need to regale the country with that entire list again, except to say this — I am not saying he will do it again in the future, but sometimes the past is prologue.