Sarah Palin says Gov. Christie made a 'rookie mistake' by attacking Gingrich
TRENTON Gov. Chris Christie and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin both chose not to run for president this year, but the two prominent Republicans are facing off against each other anyway in the race for the GOP nomination.
Christie is a supporter of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who won the New Hampshire primary earlier this month, while Palin is a recent endorser of former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who soundly beat Romney last week in South Carolina.
Those roles have put them at odds as the party fight now moves to Florida, which holds its primary next week.
Christie started things off appearing as a Romney surrogate on Meet the Press over the weekend, calling Gingrich an embarrassment for the party.
He was run out of the speakership by his own party, Christie said. He was fined $300,000 for ethics violations.
This is a guy whos had a very difficult political career at times and has been an embarrassment for the party, he told host David Gregory.
Christie also corrected a response Gingrich gave to Gregory earlier about the speakers history as a lobbyist in Washington.
Gingrich told Gregory, I was not a lobbyist, I was never a lobbyist, I never did any lobbying. Dont try to mix these things up. The fact is I was an adviser, strategically.
But Christie who was a registered lobbyist in New Jersey years before becoming governor called the claim the oldest dodge in the book.
First, he said he was a historian, now hes a strategic adviser. I mean, lets be serious, Christie said. He was using his influence that he obtained in public off! ice.
Palin responded today in an interview scheduled to air on Fox Business Network, saying Christie made a rookie mistake and played right into the medias hands.
Heres a host that asked Chris does Newt embarrass the party, Palin said in an advance transcript. I think he asked him twice, and there Chris played right into it and, you know, spewed that about, yeah, Newt embarrassing the party.
You know, sometimes if your candidate loses in just one step along this path, as was the case when Romney lost to Newt the other night, and of course, Romney is Chris Christies guy, she said. Well, you kind of get your panties in a wad and you may say things that you regret later. And I think that thats what Chris Christie did."
Palin went on to criticize Christies use of a State Police helicopter last year to shuttle between his sons baseball game and a meeting with Iowa fund-raisers.
I think if Chris were asked about some of his, you know, past actions, taking a state helicopter to his kids baseball game, some people may say, well, that sort of embarrassed your party, Chris, Palin said. And he would then be on the receiving end of a comment that maybe he wished that somebody kept as an inside thought.
Hes been in office a year or two, is all, and might think that he -- hell learn that the media -- they goad you, she said. They want you to say things like that in order to boost ratings and make it more of a reality show-type scenario.
Christie communications director Maria Comella declined to comment on what Palin said about the governor late today.
But Christie has kept his distance from Palin. During his 2009 campaign, Christie and his allies made it clear they did not want her on the campaign trail.
Video: Christie calls Newt Gingrich an influence-peddler Gov. Chris Christie called former House Speaker Newt Gingrich an "influence-peddler" in Washington today. (Megan DeMarco/The Star-Ledger) Watch video A year after his victory, Christie was asked by television talk show host Jimmy Fallon if he thought Palin could be president.
His answer: "Who knows, Jimmy? It's an amazing world."
And earlier today, Christie continued his criticism of the former speaker amid reaction from the Gingrich camp that it was disappointed with the negative tone of Romneys surrogates.
The fact of the matter is, the speaker for the last 10 years has been an influence peddler in Washington, D.C. Thats what hes been and hes been paid tens of millions of dollars to be an influence peddler, Christie said.
Now, you know, as Washington politicians do hes been in Washington for the last 40 years they always find little ways to get around the rules. So he isnt technically a lobbyist, he said. OK, thats fine. Thats the technical definition, thats fine.
Ill stick with hes an influence peddler, because you know what, I know what we pay history professors and we dont pay them tens of millions of dollars, he said. Influence peddlers get paid tens of millions of dollars.
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