Chris Christie blasted Donald Trump for wanting Putin to fight ISIS in the Middle East, suggesting it was “painfully naïve” during an interview Sunday on ABC’s “This Week” with George Stephanopoulos.
Christie insisted, “Putin is not fighting ISIS. Putin is there to prop up Assad.” Christie’s plan would include establishing a “no-fly zone” where America takes the lead in fighting ISIS.
Trump told Bill O’Reilly last Tuesday that if Vladimir Putin “wants to fight ISIS, and I think that’s a wonderful thing, if he wants to fight ISIS, let him fight ISIS. Why do we always have to do everything?”(RELATED: Trump Returns To Fox News: O’Reilly Gets Trump To Admit Calling Rubio A ‘Clown’ Wasn’t ‘Fine’)
Chris Christie: After 40 years, we allowed Russia back in the Middle East. And now, who did they partner with? Iran.
George Stephanopoulos: So how do you push them out?
Christie: Well listen, you should be establishing, first he should never be there, but now that he is there, America has to re-establish its presence in the area. We should be the ones leading the fight on ISIS. And by the way, we know Putin is not fighting ISIS. Putin is there to prop up Assad.
Stephanopoulos: So you would put in a no-fly zone?
Christie: Absolutely. And I’ll tell you this, there’s now 300,000 nearly dead in Syria, because of Assad. And now Putin is going in, and teaming with the Iranians, to prop up Assad. Only Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton could mess up this foreign policy that badly. And anybody that agrees with allowing the Russians into the Middle East is just painfully naïve.