For former Gov. Chris Christie, it’s obvious: President Donald Trump has committed impeachable acts.
“What we had was an incitement to riot at the United States Capitol,” he said. “We had people killed. To me, there’s not a whole lot of question here.”
Christie, appearing on ABC on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos” on Sunday morning, said there’s no debating the issue: They are impeachable acts.
“If inciting to insurrection isn’t, then I don’t really know what is,” he said.
Christie is the top New Jersey Republican to express this view. Of course, he doesn’t have a vote. Those potential votes will come from the state’s congressional delegation. And, while the nine Democrats have indicated they likely would vote to impeach, the two Republicans (Jeff Van Drew of the 2nd District and Chris Smith of the 4th District) have not said they would do so.
Christie said they are going to have to vote their conscience. He appears to be having a reckoning of his own actions.
Christie, who was aligned with Trump as late as last fall — when he helped him prep for the presidential debate — made his current feelings well-known. He said he thinks many Republicans no longer support Trump.
“What I’ve heard from fellow Republicans is that they’ve had enough, and that the President’s conduct, quite frankly, since then, has gotten them upset,” he said.
Trump’s unwillingness to acknowledge the fatalities at the uprising in our nation’s capital last week — the death total connected to the event is now six — also bothered Christie, he said.
“It is a national disgrace that the flag of the White House is not at half-staff for that Capitol Hill police officer (New Jersey’s Brian Sicknick), who gave his life in protecting one of our institutions of democracy,” he said. “If (Trump is) having a fit of pique, and that’s why we’re not putting a flag at half-staff, it’s just another example of why people think that these decisions are not being made on the merits.
“These decisions are being made purely with an idea of what’s in my own personal desire at the moment on the part of the president. So, it’s just wrong.”
Hours after Christie made his comments, the White House flag was lowered to half-staff.
Christie was one of many Republicans who lost out to Trump in an effort to get the Republican nomination for president in 2016. Some are speculating he may run again in 2024.
