Chris Christie’s “Punch in the Face”
It’s almost like the Republicans are purposely making every public relations mistake they possibly can.
Today, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie told CNN that one of the largest national teachers unions deserves a “punch in the face”, calling the union the “single most destructive force in public education”.
Christie made those comments on CNN’s “State of the Union”, in response to host Jake Tapper noting that Christie in the past said that he confronts bullies by punching them in the face. “At the national level, who deserves a punch in the face?” Christie responded, “Oh the national teachers union, which has already endorsed Hillary Clinton 16, 17 months before the election.”
Lyndsey Layton of The Washington Post picks up the story from there:
Christie was referring to the American Federation of Teachers, the second-largest teachers union, which became the first national labor union to make an endorsement in the 2016 race when it gave its backing to Clinton on July 11. The largest union, the National Education Association, has not yet made an endorsement.
Christie said the AFT was “not for education for our children. They’re for greater membership, greater benefits, greater pay for their members. And they are the single most destructive force in public education in America. I have been saying that since 2009. I have got the scars to show it. But I’m never going to stop saying it, because they never change their stripes.”
Christie has said the union cares only about higher wages and benefits and not about children.
It appears to me, however, that Christie himself doesn’t care about getting getting voted into the Oval Office. If he did, he would be more careful about choosing his words. Shooting from the hip, Donald Trump-style, may work in New Jersey and within the Greater New York metropolitan area, but nationally he comes off as himself looking like a bully and a buffoon.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: if you aspire to a national office, you have to have a NATIONAL appeal. Just because you’re a big deal in New York or New Jersey doesn’t mean your style will resonate with the rest of the country.