Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie said he has no interest in running against Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) after the 69-year-old lawmaker was indicted on federal corruption charges last week.
Christie made the remarks during a Sunday interview with Kristen Welker on NBC News’s “Meet The Press” when pressed on the topic and whether the indictment undercuts Republican claims that there is a two-tiered justice system in the country.
“I’m glad that the Justice Department acted, and they acted on some very horrific facts,” he said. “Look, I did this Kristen, as you know, for seven years as the U.S. attorney in New Jersey, the fifth largest office in the country. We did 130 corruption cases and never were defeated. So I know a bit about this. There is no way that any public official has any legal, or plausible, or ethical explanation for having $500,000 in cash stuffed in jackets and envelopes throughout their home, gold bars that have the fingerprints, DNA of someone who you were attempting to fix the system for. I commend the Southern District of New York for doing the right thing.”
Christie added that while he does not believe that the entire DOJ has done bad things, he had a problem with U.S. Attorney David Weiss offering Hunter Biden a sweetheart plea deal.
When asked if he would run against Menendez if he did not win in the fall, Christie responded: “No, I have no interest in being in the United States Senate.”
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“You rule it out completely?” Welker pressed.
“Yes, I have. I have throughout my entire career,” he added. “I had a chance to appoint myself to the United States Senate, Kristen, in 2013 when Frank Lautenberg passed away and I was governor. If I didn’t appoint myself to the United States Senate, the easiest way to get there, I sure as heck am not going to run for it.”
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