Did Chris Christie Just Take A Verbal Swipe At Sarah Palin?

Chris Christie was on Fox News Sunday yesterday and, inevitably, the question of him running for the White House came up:

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) brushed off a Zogby poll from earlier this month that showed him leading a pack of hypothetical GOP 2012 contenders, adamantly stressing that’s not in his plans.

“The president can rest easy because the only guy who beats him in that poll isn’t running,” Christie said on “Fox News Sunday.”

“I have a commitment to my state,” he said, adding that he’d only been governor for a year and New Jersey’s problems still need fixing.

“You have to believe in your heart that you’re personally ready to be president and I’m not there,” Christie said. “I am not arrogant enough to believe that after one year as governor … that I am ready to be president of the United States.”

“So I’m not going to run,” the governor said.

Video:

Palin’s name doesn’t come up, but it is reminiscent of his response to a question from Jimmy Fallon back in November

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Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. PD Shaw says:

    I’m glad to see you placed the adjective “verbal” in front of swipe, which clarifies it’s a rhetorical swipe and not an attempt to glamorize violence. But I wish Christie didn’t talk about beating his opponents; he is certainly not ready for prime time.

  2. JKB says:

    Or was it a swipe at the guy who is now failing as president. The one who spent his entire Senate career campaigning instead of, you know, actually being a Senator in something other than name only.

  3. James Joyner says:

    My initial thought was JKB’s, that it was a swipe at Obama. But perhaps it was both?

  4. Janis Gore says:

    Maybe neither. It’s possible that he’s talking about himself alone.

  5. It COULD be a swipe at Palin,at Obama, at the teachers’ unions, but really, I think it’s needless pontificating at this point. No need to read between the lines on this one when there’s more pressing issues.

  6. John425 says:

    Clearly a swipe at the current President who is merely a community activist pretending to be a President.

  7. anjin-san says:

    > I am not arrogant enough to believe that after one year as governor

    Kind of a silly argument. The resume does not make the man. GHW Bush was, on paper, better prepared to be President than anyone in history. He was a one term mediocracy. Clinton was the governor of a state with less than three million residents, and he was an excellent President.

  8. wr says:

    Thank you, John425, for confirming what a lot of us knew about so-called conservatives — despite the loud declarations of love for the constitution, you really despise democracy. Unless your guy gets the most vote, elections are illegitimate and if someone you dislike wins office, he is only “pretending.”

    I guess I missed the article of the constutution that said only a Republican can actually be president.