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(Video: CNN)

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie appeared to squirm a bit when questioned by CNN’s Dana Bash about his loyalty to former President Trump and whether or not he would support him in a 2024 presidential run.

The special interview, “Being…Chris Christie,” aired Monday night and is another in a series of biographical portraits produced by the network. Bash inquired of the failed Republican 2016 presidential candidate, “Donald Trump has made it pretty clear he wants to run for president again. Would you support him?”

“Oh, look, I don’t know that he is going to run…” Christie said, to which Bash immediately responded “But what if he does?”

“I don’t know if I’m going to run, you know, look, what if?” Christie said. “I’ve learned…”

“I mean, it’s not as if it’s a big secret that he’s seriously considering it,” Bash interrupted.

“He’s seriously considering it. Let’s see what happens when he does. And let’s see who he is and what he says and how he conducts himself,” Christie said.

Earlier in the interview, Christie had pointed to what he perceived as many lies on the part of Trump, as well as offering his opinion on Trump’s alleged role in the Jan 6th riot at the U.S. Capitol.

“I think everything that he was saying from Election Night forward incited people to that level of anger,” Christie said. “I think people minimize what happened on the 6th by pointing to the speech that he gave on the Ellipse on the 6th.”

He added, “I don’t think they [protestors] would’ve gone there if they thought the election had been fair.”

“But, they fall unto a number of categories,” he said. “Some of them believe him. They want to believe him. Some of them are scared of him. Some of them don’t want to talk about it. They just don’t want to talk about it. They want it to just go away.”

He continued, “I think that there are lots of Republicans who believe exactly what I believe, but no one’s saying it to them. The only voice they’re hearing right now are voices that say that the election was stolen and that’s just not true. So you need other voices to speak out. So I’m doing it.”

Naturally, Bash appeared astonished that Christie would even pause in considering whether or not he would support Trump as the potential 2024 Republican nominee

“After everything you’ve described that he has done, you still would potentially, would vote for him?” she asked.

“Dana, what I’m saying… look, what I’m saying to you is that I’m not going to sit here in 2021 and prejudge all this,” Christie explained. “I voted for him in ’16 and in ’20. On Election Night in ’20, I said that what he was doing was absolutely horrible and wrong and continued to be. You could draw whatever conclusions from that you want. But in the end, in 2021, the idea of making predictions for 2024 is folly. And by the way…”

Bash interrupted another time to interject, “With all due respect, that sounds like a cop-out.”

“I know, I’m sure you think it’s a cop-out,” Christie said. “But you know what, I also know that there is no reason to create tumult in a party that already has a lot of tumult in it.”

At a recent speech to Republican donors, the former governor said “We can no longer talk about the past and the past elections — no matter where you stand on that issue, no matter where you stand, it is over.”

“Every minute that we spend talking about 2020 — while we’re wasting time doing that, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer are laying ruin to this country. We better focus on that and take our eyes off the rearview mirror and start looking through the windshield again.”

Christie fancies himself a savior of sorts for the Republican Party, having finished a book entitled, “Republican Rescue: Saving the Party from Truth Deniers, Conspiracy Theorists, and the Dangerous Policies of Joe Biden” which is due to hit bookstores this week.

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Frank Webster

Staff Writer

Frank (Chip) Webster is a musician and composer, former teacher of percussion and U.S. Army Infantry veteran. He holds a degree in English from Arizona State University.

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