President Donald Trump made a number of shocking claims during his conversation with ABC News ‘ George Stephanopoulos, with the most controversial one being his suggestion that there is nothing wrong with accepting damaging information about political opponents, even when it comes from a foreign adversary.
President Trump made the statement out of ignorance, suggested former Republican Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie on Sunday, Newsweek reports.
“I think it’s what he really thinks,” Christie began, proceeding to offer a unique explanation for Trump’s comments.
According to the former governor, President Trump’s experience in the business world made him believe that accepting damaging information about opponents, even if the information comes from hostile powers, is not at all out of the ordinary.
“He does think that people take this dirt from foreign governments all the time. This is a guy who’s never been involved in politics before. He’s been involved in business. The things that happen in business that might be acceptable, when you’re a public official taking an oath of office are not acceptable.”
Christie added that it is “against the law” to accept such information, noting that he does not agree with the president and suggesting that he simply wants to offer an explanation for Trump’s remarks.
Christie, who served briefly as the leader of Trump’s presidential transition team, revealed why he is certain that the president really believes that taking foreign dirt is normal. According to the former New Jersey governor, the president was “emotional” during his interview with George Stephanopoulos, which means that he was telling the truth.
“I mean, one of the things you have to understand about Donald Trump is that most of the time, when he’s emotional like he was in that interview, and you could see a number of times he was emotional, he’s saying absolutely what he really thinks,” he explained.
Chris Christie blames Sarah Sanders and the White House Press staff for Trump’s D-Day interview debacle.
“Whoever made those decisions, to put him in those positions, put him there, they ill-served him.” https://t.co/UrMNNSrGxG
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) June 9, 2019
As previously reported by The Inquisitr , the president also said that he would not contact the FBI if offered damaging information about an opponent, causing even some of his Republican colleagues to denounce the comments. Senator Lindsey Graham, for instance, urged the president to clarify his remarks.
Trump’s remarks were widely-condemned by Democratic politicians, with some of them renewing calls for impeachment. Notably, presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders both called for an impeachment inquiry, pointing to Trump’s comments about accepting foreign dirt.
Some have also stuck with the president. When asked about the remarks, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell downplayed the issue, suggesting that the Democrats are struggling to move away from the Mueller report — the special counsel found no proof of a Trump-Russia conspiracy, choosing not to charge Trump with obstruction of justice — and “harassing” the president.
