New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie slapped back at Steve Bannon, telling PBS NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff that a conversation the former White House chief strategist mentioned in his controversial 60 Minutes interview didn’t even happen.
‘This, I suspect, is his last 15 minutes of fame,’ Christie huffed. ‘And that’s fine. I hope he enjoys it.’
Bannon told 60 Minutes’ Charlie Rose that Christie didn’t get a cabinet position because he wasn’t on President Trump’s side in the aftermath of the release of the Access Hollywood video, which looked like it could doom the Republican businessman’s presidential campaign.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie spoke with PBS NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff Monday night about comments Steve Bannon made about him in a new 60 Minutes interview
60 Minutes’ Charlie Rose (left) interviewed Steve Bannon (right) who said Gov. Chris Christie wasn’t given a cabinet post because of how he acted in the aftermath of the release of the Access Hollywood tape
‘Billy Bush Saturday, to me, is a litmus test. It is a litmus test,’ Bannon said, referencing the news personality who Trump was conversing with when he made his infamous ‘grab them by the p***y’ remark. ‘When you side with him, you have to side with him. And that’s what Billy Bush weekend showed me.’
Rose then commented, ‘You took names on Billy Bush Sunday, didn’t you?’
Bannon said yes.
‘I’m Irish. I got to get my black book and I got them,’ Bannon said.
‘Christie, because of Billy Bush weekend, wasn’t looked at for a cabinet position,’ Bannon continued. ‘I told him, the plane leaves at 11 in the morning, if you’re on the plane, you’re on the team.’
‘Didn’t make the plane,’ Bannon added.
When talking to Woodruff, Christie said this was nonsense.
‘First is that that conversation that Mr. Bannon references in his interview never happened,’ Christie said. ‘Never had any conversations with him.’
Christie had, however, publicly voiced his displeasure with Trump’s lewd comments.
In a dig to where Bannon was situated on the Trump totem poll, the New Jersey governor added, ‘I didn’t need to convey those kinds of feelings to staffers.’
‘I was speaking to the principal, to the man who’s now president of the United States,’ Christie stated, noting in the interview that the two men had been friends for 15 years and ‘speak the truth to each other.’
The New Jersey governor also pointed out that he was at Trump’s side through ‘Billy Bush weekend,’ working with the candidate on debate prep on Friday, when the news broke, and on Saturday too.
‘And, by the way, if I was off the team, then why did I lead debate prep for the third debate?’ Christie mused.
He also told Woodruff he had been offered a cabinet position, which he turned down.
‘So I suspect this little black book that Mr. Bannon is talking about, the only one who read that black book was Mr. Bannon himself,’ Christie said. ‘I know that no one else cared about it.
‘And now that he’s been fired, no one is going to really care about anything else Steve Bannon has to say,’ Christie added as an additional burn.