Over the past week or so, rumors have been flying about New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's potential role in a Trump administration after he and those close to him were knocked down a peg in the president-elect's White House transition team.
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In the weeks leading up to the Nov. 8 election, Christie took a wait-and-see approach to the political roadmap ahead of him, laying low as the Bridgegate trial came to a close with convictions of former allies Bridget Kelly and Bill Baroni.
On Monday night, Christie addressed the rampant speculation concering his status with Donald Trump. Appearing for an hour-long edition of "Ask the Governor" on NJ 101.5, Christie shot down the idea that he and Trump are at odds. He also put a cagey damper on expectations that he will assume a cabinet role in Trump's White House, repeating a similar claim he made in Atlantic City last week.
"The only thing I said that I would consider doing was when he considered me for Vice President," Christie said. "And he selected Governor Pence. And since that time I've been saying consistently throughout that I was going to serve the rest of my term. And I'm serving the rest of my term."
Christie still has fourteen months remaining in his second term as governor of New Jersey, where his approval rating has hit a nadir in recent weeks. When pressed by host Eric Scott about whether President-elect Trump has asked him to serve in the White House, Christie refused to take the bait.
"I'm not going to get into that," Christie said. "It wouldn't end the speculation. Let's say I give you an answer to that question and you would say, 'What did he offer?' Right? And then if I said that, you'd say, well, are you going to accept it or aren't you going to accept it? Those conversations are between me and the President-elect. And I've remained friends with him all these years because I don't talk about our conversations in public. And they're nobody else's business."
Some political observers have suggested that Trump soured on Christie over his alleged role in the closure of lanes on the George Washington Bridge in Sept. 2013. Christie denied the implication, dismissing the testimony against him as the word of "convicted felons" seeking revenge. He also labeled New Jersey Sen. Ray Lesniak (D-Union), who has called for a special prosecutor to handle an "official misconduct" complaint against the governor, a "quack."
"There's never been a cross word between [myself and Donald Trump] in terms of our feelings for each other," Christie said. "We've each had challenges and problems in our political life that we've helped each other get through."
While the two have talked about Bridgegate, Christie said members of the media with nothing better to write about have insisted on maligning him over "crap" that isn't true.
"All I can tell you," Christie said, "is the trial is over."