Former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ), a candidate for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that his rival for the nomination, former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC), should be “ashamed” she was enabling former President Donald Trump’s “disgusting” stance on immigration.
Anchor Jake Tapper said, “I want you to take a listen to something that Donald Trump said about immigrants last night.”
Saturday, at a rally, Trump said, “They’re poisoning the blood of our country. That is what they’ve done. They’ve poisoned mental institutions and prisons all over the world. Not just in South America or three or four countries, but they’re coming into our country from Africa and Asia, and they’re pouring into our country.”
Tapper said, “South America, Africa, Asia, immigrants poisoning the blood of our country, the words of the leading Republican presidential candidate. Your response?”
Christie said, “He’s disgusting. And what he’s doing is dog-whistling to Americans who feel absolutely under stress and strain from the economy and from the conflicts around the world, and he’s dog-whistling to blame it on people that don’t look like us. The Republicans are saying this is OK. Almost 100 members of Congress have endorsed him. Nikki Haley this week said he’s fit to be president. You’re telling me that someone who said that immigrants are poisoning the blood of this country and said Vladimir Putin is a character witness is fit to be president of the United States? And was the right president at the right time. Nikki Haley should be ashamed of herself, and she’s part of the problem. She’s enabling him. She’s enabling him by saying to people, it is OK.”
He added, “Let me be really clear: I’m in this race to let people know it is not okay. It is not okay for an American president to be saying these things, and she should be ashamed of herself and the members of Congress who nod their head like a dog in the back of their head, just nodding away when he said all of these things because all their about is their own political future and their primary in their own district. This is why American leadership is falling down and why I’m in the race to stay, and we’re going to take Donald Trump out by telling the truth.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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