Gov. Chris Christie embraced his softer side in New Jersey yesterday after a girl scout asked him during a town hall meeting about a potential run for president.
When asked about what he would change about Washington D.C., Christie pointed out that the some of the partisan problems in the nation’s capital could be solved with a little cordial outreach.
“It’s harder to hate up close,” Christie said, alluding to a quote from his former boss, Deputy U.S. Attorney General James Comey.
“I think in Washington what’s happened is everybody goes to their separate corners. They don’t talk to each other anymore, they don’t deal with each other anymore on a regular basis. They don’t get to know each other,” Christie continued. “And so then if you have differences of opinion it’s much harder to hate if you don’t know the person.”
What had to change in Washington, he explained, was a little more courteous social interaction between members of both parties.
“I think in Washington there’s too much anger right now,” he said. “Too much talking at each other rather than with each other.”
Developing close relationships in Washington, he argued, would actually be fruitful especially after developing a feeling of trust between leaders.
“You can trust someone who you don’t particularly want to go out to dinner with but you can trust them because if they give you their word and they keep their word, they’re trustworthy,” he said. “So, I think of the all of things that I would change in Washington that would help to make the country be governed better, I think that’d be the first thing you’d have to work on.”
Christie added that any decision to run for president was “a long way off” but he would continue to work across the aisle in New Jersey. In previous conversations with voters, Christie has hinted that any announcement about his political intentions in 2016 would come in late Spring or early Summer.
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