When New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie officially kicked off his bid for the Republican presidential nomination on Tuesday, he did so with the newly unveiled slogan, “Telling It Like It Is.”
It’s an endorsement of Christie’s candid and hard-charging style that has sometimes been the source of controversy during his time in the public spotlight. But his wife, Mary Pat, believes it shows why voters should support her husband’s bid for the White House.
“I think it’s a hallmark of his leadership,” Mary Pat Christie told CNN’s Gloria Borger in her first solo interview ahead of Christie’s presidential announcement. “I think so many times our politicians, they don’t tell the truth. I think America is looking for someone to tell the truth.”
Former New Jersey Republican Gov. Tom Kean — who has known Christie for decades and has had his own ups and downs with the current governor — sees that style as a double-edged sword.
“Has he learned, over time, a little bit better self-control,” Kean told CNN. “To keep the temper under control, to use it, not have it use him.”
Christie’s truth-telling brand was put to the test a year and a half ago, when allegations surfaced that some of the governor’s staff members had deliberately created a massive traffic jam on the George Washington Bridge as an act of political retribution on the governor’s behalf.
One person close to Christie pleaded guilty and two others have been indicted for their involvement in the scandal. But Christie was never implicated, and has repeatedly denied having any knowledge of the scheme.
“You felt that people were all against you and that you wanted to get to shout what the truth was,” Mary Pat Christie, who gave up a lucrative job on Wall Street before the campaign, recalls. “And when you’re in those kind of situations, you know that you can trust your family. And so, we really leaned on one another. And in a strange way I think that it was healthy. I wouldn’t recommend it, but it was healthy in some ways.”
New Jersey’s first lady is ready to move on, reminding the public of Christie’s warmly regarded leadership during the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, something he’s expected to emphasize on the campaign trail.
“He would literally go to the shore towns and walk the streets,” she remembers. “He felt people’s pain, and was able to just hug them.”
While Christie’s approval ratings in New Jersey have taken a hit in the last year, his wife said the governor’s leadership skills are another aspect the couple should tout to voters.
“He’s a very complex person, like any executive leader is,” she said. “And he thinks four, five steps ahead of most people and just comes up with all sorts of solutions.”
“I think if this was another candidate who had a similar problems, I might be writing him off,” Kean added. “I know Chris Christie too well for that. Never write off Chris Christie.”
