Chris Christie: ‘Overwhelming Presence’ of Law Enforcement Needed to End Riots

MIAMI, FLORIDA - MAY 30: Police in riot gear use tear gas and other means of crowd control
Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images

Former Gov. Chris Christie said an “overwhelming presence” of law enforcement is needed to end ongoing unrest and lawlessness generated by agitators, offering his comments on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Sunday with host Joel Pollak.

Pollak asked, “What are the options now for governors? What are the options for the president? What would you do if you were advising President Trump? What would you tell him?”

Christie replied, “I would tell him first, in this instance with that kind of thing, not to overreact, but to work with the governors. His interests and the governors’ interests are aligned here. I think that the government of Minnesota was simply asleep at the switch.”

Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) lacked experience and judgment, assessed Christie, describing the Minnesota governor as having committed “absolute malpractice” in his mishandling of riots in his state.

Christie added, “What we need in this instance from a law enforcement perspective is not overwhelming force, [but] overwhelming presence. We need those people who are agitators to understand that they are significantly outnumbered than those who are enforcing the law and that to try to agitate something would just be foolhardy.”

“That’s why you bring up the National Guard and you bring them up early so that between National Guard and police, you are significantly outnumbering any of the people who are coming out to create problems — not the people who are there to peacefully protest, but the people who are there to agitate and create anarchy,” Christie remarked.

President Donald Trump must coordinate his response with governors while offering federal funding and manpower assistance, Christie advised.

“I don’t think we’re to the point yet where we need to put active-duty military as opposed to National Guard in the street,” Christie estimated. “That would be a really really significant step and one that we don’t necessarily need to do.

Christie concluded, “Having command of the National Guard in New Jersey, we would certainly have had the resources to be able to handle something like this, and I think it’s just about the governors doing the right thing.

Breitbart News Sunday broadcasts live on SiriusXM Patriot 125 from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Eastern.

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