Chris Christie is known as one who doesn’t mince words — and the former governor of New Jersey has found himself in some controversy over his own remarks and actions in the past, including an old photo of him sitting in a beach chair while the beaches were closed due to a state shutdown.
Now, the 2016 presidential candidate finds himself knee-deep in some more controversy after weighing in on the coronavirus’ impact on the economy. Speaking with Dana Bash of CNN on her Daily DC podcast, Christie was asked about what the reopening of the U.S. economy could look like and the potential lives at stake. “Of course, everybody wants to save every life they can, but the question is: Toward what end, ultimately?” the 57-year-old politician stated. “Are there ways that we can thread the needle here to allow that there are going to be deaths, and there are going to be deaths no matter what?”
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Christie, who also said that “we’re in the midst of a pandemic that we haven’t seen in over 100 years… we’re going to have to continue to do things,” quickly saw some backlash his way as many did not appreciate his disregard for human life.
Chris Christie should work three straight shifts in a hospital intensive care ward and then get back to me about what America needs right now
— Jeff Tiedrich (@itsJeffTiedrich) May 5, 2020
Chris Christie doesn’t care if your family dies. Neither does Trump. They just care about keeping their precious stock market high, so that they can afford to play golf and sit on the beach by themselves.
— Ms. Krassenstein (@HKrassenstein) May 5, 2020
The way @GovChristie and others cavalierly shrug off thousands of deaths belies the fact that they’ve never watched someone gasping for breath at the very end. Never seen someone die. Never had to hold the hand of a loved one and tell them how sorry you are.
— Dr. Rob Davidson (@DrRobDavidson) May 5, 2020
Strange choice. Chris Christie disappears from public life only to return out of the blue to tell Americans that “You will die. And you must like it.”
— Bryan Behar (@bryanbehar) May 5, 2020
Easy to say until it’s one of his family or friends…🤷🏻♀️
— Sherri Wade Glock 🏳️🌈🤗 (@GlockWade) May 6, 2020
Christie is offering a false choice: deaths, or no deaths.
— Monty 🇺🇸Flatten The Curve🇺🇸 Boa (@MontyBoa99) May 5, 2020
What about minimizing, with strategies like New Zealand’s and South Korea’s, which have left fewer than a thousand dead, instead of the 70,000 we already have, and the 100,000’s that reopening prematurely would lead to?
I’d like to see Chris Christie bag groceries for a day. Just one lousy day. He’ll never agree to it. He’s not talking about “essential” workers. He means “sacrificial workers.”
— Sanho Tree (@SanhoTree) May 5, 2020
And what is he in charge of exactly that gives him the authority to say that?
— JenNWCbus aka Verin’s Owl (@JenNWCbus) May 5, 2020
