Former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that former President Donald Trump being elected again posed “a national security risk.”
Anchor Kristen Welker said, “We’ve got a new set of comments from former President Trump overnight. He basically is recounting a story, conversation he says he had with one of the NATO leaders about paying their fair share in the face of these threats by Vladimir Putin. Let’s take a look, and I’ll get your reaction on the other side.”
At a rally, Trump said, “One of the presidents of a big country stood up and said, sir, if we don’t pay and we’re attacked by Russia, will you protect us? I said you didn’t pay, you’re delinquent? He said yes. Say that happened, no, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You have to pay. You have to pay your bills.”
Welker said, “What do you make of that?”
Christie said, “This is why I’ve been saying for a long time that he’s unfit to be president of the United States. It’s one thing, and think it’s right for a president to say to a NATO member, hey, you have to pay the dues you need to pay. I think the American people would expect that of a president, but the problem with Donald Trump is he can’t just stop there. He’s got to say I would encourage Russia to do whatever the hell they wanted to you. That is absolutely inappropriate for a president of the United States or a candidate for president of the United States to be saying, but it is consistent with his love for dictators.”
Welker said, “Do you think it poses a national security risk to make that kind of a comment?”
Christie said, “What poses a national security risk is the possibility that he could be president of the United States again. That’s what poses a national security risk because we need to take him at his word, Kristen. And the fact is that as I’ve said earlier, Donald Trump when he came into office in 2016 was scared. He was afraid to be president. He was afraid of mistakes he would make. He knew he was not ready and so as a result he listened to a lot of very good people around him, General Mattis, General Kelly and others about these issues. In a second term, he would not.”
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