Former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ), a candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, said Monday on “The Hugh Hewitt Show” that a second Donald Trump administration would likely be staffed by “deranged sycophants.”

Partial transcript as follows:

HEWITT: Governor, let me ask you some technical questions about personnel. Do you have any idea who would be your chief of staff in the White House?

CHRISTIE: I have a couple ideas, but I’m certainly not going to spring them on your show, Hugh.

HEWITT: Why not? Make some news.

CHRISTIE: Well, it would be news to the people I’m thinking about, so I think I owe it to them to talk to them first. Don’t you?

HEWITT: Well, what I was, you know, we had these debates before the debate…

CHRISTIE: Let me tell you, well, let me tell you, how about this. How about this, Hugh, because I like to answer your questions. I would say this. I think you would, you should consider it very likely that my chief of staff will be somebody who either was a governor or currently serves as a governor.

HEWITT: Ah. Very well put. Good, good, good. I think these personnel questions, you know, there are only 3,000 appointments, and we always elect a president and a vice president. Do you think we ought to have more clarity on who’s coming in with the team?

CHRISTIE: Yes, I do. And I think if that were something that people got a little bit of notice on, let’s say before the next set of debates, that there might be a question on the kind of people you would consider, then you could have the time to at least give those people a heads up that their name will be thrown out in front of millions of people on national television or millions of people here on the Hugh Hewitt Show. But I absolutely think it’s important, because look, the guy who can’t answer that question is Donald Trump, because 40 of his 44 cabinet level people have said not only that they wouldn’t work for him again, they wouldn’t vote for him. And so who’s he going to bring in? Is this going to be the Kash Patel’s of the world? The Jeffrey Clark’s of the world? The Michael Flynn’s of the world are going to be the people who are going to populate the next Trump administration, a bunch of deranged sycophants who will just do whatever the masters tell them to do regardless of the law and the Constitution? I’d answer these questions, because I want Trump to answer these questions, because you know what? He’s not going to be able to find anybody good to work for him.

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