Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie got into a heated spat with MSNBC host Mika Brzezinski over abortion — specifically late-term abortion — which led to the two scolding each other: “Don’t mess with me!”
Christie joined Thursday morning’s broadcast of “Morning Joe,” where Brzezinski brought up the topic of abortion — as it had been discussed at the third Republican presidential primary debate the night before — and accused the former New Jersey governor of being “dishonest” about it.
WATCH:
2024 GOP candidate Chris Christie and MSNBC’s @morningmika get into an intense back-and-forth on abortion.
Christie: “Don’t mess with me on the law, Mika.”
Brzezinski: “Don’t mess with me on how women feel about using the ninth month argument on the issue of abortion.” pic.twitter.com/VPWNtXEkBu
— The Recount (@therecount) November 9, 2023
“Another issue that you talked about last night was abortion. You and I disagree on this issue,” Brzezinski began. “But the one thing you keep saying is, you keep talking about abortion in the ninth month, which is allowed in your state. And the last time I asked you to like bring me the case where a woman walked into a doctor’s office in the ninth month and said I’ve decided I don’t want to have a baby, please take this out. It doesn’t happen. Less than 1 percent of abortions are performed after 21 weeks.”
Brzezinski went on to claim that the majority of late-term abortions happened due to medical emergencies, and Christie did not appear to disagree until she suggested that he had said something he hadn’t.
“I just think, of all the candidates, you’ve been the most honest about Trump and election integrity, but in this one respect I have to call you out because you’re not being honest on the issue. We can debate abortion, but there isn’t abortion in the ninth month,”
“Mika, you’re the one who’s not being honest. I did not say there was abortion in the ninth month. What I said was that the law in New Jersey and New York and Illinois and California permits it,” Christie replied. “And you can’t deny that that’s the truth because it is. And so – and so, look, you know, don’t call somebody a liar –”
“It doesn’t happen, Chris,” Brzezinski objected.
Christie continued to push back, saying that he had only made the point that the law permitted it — which it did — and had not ever claimed that people were having abortions in the ninth month.
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“I’m not calling you a liar,” Brzezinski insisted. “I – it’s not honest.”
The conversation continued in that vein until Christie finally asked, “Does the law permit it in those states? Well, that’s all I said. So I don’t understand what your problem is with that. In the end, if that’s what the law permits, that’s what the people who passed those laws said is OK, is legally permissible. That’s the point I’m making.”
“Chris, you’re painting a picture about the issue of abortion that is not honest. And this is a health issue for women,” Brzezinski insisted. “And there are women who are in extreme situations who need healthcare, and they should get it. We can debate that … But there are not women in the state of New Jersey trouncing into doctor’s offices asking for abortions in the ninth month. It doesn’t happen.”
“And – and – and – and by the way, you know, you could continue to set up that straw man for yourself to knock it down because you’re mischaracterizing what I said. I am giving you the state of the law. And the state of the law in those states are that you could go into a doctor’s office and do it. And that’s all I said,” Christie said again.
Christie continued to point out the fact that he had only been describing the law as it was written – not necessarily how it was or was not being applied — and asked Brzezinski to explain what he had said that was dishonest.
“Don’t mess with me on the law, Mika, I know that,” he said.
“Yes, don’t mess with me on how women feel about using the ninth month argument on the issue of abortion,” Brzezinski said.