New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s wife called a drop in enthusiasm encouraging her husband to run for president “disappointing.”
“I mean it certainly is disappointing when you had throngs of people encouraging you to do this and maybe the enthusiasm isn’t as crazy as it was,” Mary Pat Christie told CNN’s Jake Tapper in an interview that aired Wednesday morning.
Republican donors and supporters strongly encouraged Christie to enter the 2012 presidential race, but Christie resisted the pressure. Now that Christie is leaning toward entering the Republican fray and after the Bridgegate scandal, that enthusiasm has largely evaporated.
But Mary Pat noted that she is reassured when she makes calls to test the waters of support for a potential presidential bid.
“Everyone always says that I know he would be a great president and when you have those conversations it’s reassuring and you know that deep down they know he can do the job and believe in his ability,” she said.
Her husband added that “it’s going to be hard no matter what.”
“I get lots of people who come to us and say you should’ve done it four years ago. And I’ll tell you one thing I know for sure, I wasn’t ready to be president four years ago,” Christie said.
For Christie, it’s not just a question of convincing donors and political heavyweights — some of his children still need convincing too.
Christie said his oldest son has “been very encouraging.”
But his daughter, a freshman at Notre Dame University, is less enthused. She’s concerned about how the run will change her life in college, Christie said.
And his two youngest children are concerned that a run will mean they wouldn’t “see you and Mom,” he added.
That’s partly why Mary Pat left her job on Wall Street, Christie said; to reassure their children.