March 3, 2016

Chris Christie Slams Critics Who Mocked Him as Trump’s Hostage

Congressional Quarterly/ZUMA

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Responding to recent criticism that he has been overly occupied with Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie held a press conference on Thursday to defend his recent endorsement of the real estate magnate and reassure his state’s residents that he remains focused on the state’s agenda.

“I am not a full-time surrogate for Donald Trump,” Christie said. “I do not have a title or position in the Trump campaign. I am an endorser.”

Since Christie shocked the political world by by endorsing the GOP presidential front-runner—a move that gave establishment cred to Trump’s outsider campaign—several newspapers in New Jersey have derided Christie and called on him to resign, pointing to his extended absences from Trenton.

Christie’s endorsement of Trump has won him no praise within Republican circles. And on Super Tuesday night, when Trump racked up a string of significant victories, Christie appeared less than thrilled to be up on stage with him. He was wildly mocked on social media for looking like a hostage or a fellow with a profound case of buyer’s remorse. (Read this.)

Hogwash, Christie declared at the press conference: “I was standing there listening to him. All those arm-chair psychiatrists should give it a break. No, I wasn’t being held hostage.”

Still, he felt it was necessary to deny it.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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