President Barack Obama told the Los Angeles Times’ Christi Parsons Wednesday that his “bro hug” crushed Chris Christie’s political prospects.
Obama stated that “the pressure that individual members are under from various not just advocacy groups but sort of those who are policing purity from within the party” made it impossible for Republicans to socialize with a Democratic president.
“I would invite a number of Republicans senators in my first couple of years to come over to the White House for movies or some other events, and increasingly, what you found was, is that it was hard for them to do it without getting in trouble.” (RELATED: Christie Drops Out Of 2016 Race)
“[Sen.] Kirk [Dillard] was a victim of this,” Obama continued. “He said something nice about me and it then punished him politically, which I deeply regret.”
“And although I’ve got huge differences with Chris Christie, the fact that I gave him a bro hug or something right after his state had gone through this enormous disaster and we were trying to work together to help them, those things suddenly became weapons to be used.” (RELATED: Christie: ‘I Didn’t Hug Obama’)