Former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) said Wednesday on ABC’s “The View” that the Confederate President Jefferson Davis “had some class” because he didn’t attempt to run for office again unlike former President Donald Trump.
Partial transcript as follows:
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: I mean, you’ve seen what the lengths that the people have gone through to make sure his feet don’t touch the ground. Do you think that letting him get away with being an insurrectionist is the right way for us to let the country know how we — what are going to do it next time we get another one?
CHRISTIE: I think they should try him and convict him in Washington, D.C. and send him to jail for it. And I think that’s the way to do it.
SUNNY HOSTIN: Jefferson Davis wasn’t convicted.
GOLDBERG: Did he break the law, though? Did he do what he, what he’s been accused?
CHRISTIE: I think he’s going to be convicted of it.
GOLDBERG: No, no, that’s not what, that’s not my question.
HOSTIN: She’s talking about the 14th, section 3 of the 14th Amendment —
CHRISTIE: I know what she’s talking about.
HOSTIN: Jefferson Davis wasn’t convicted.
CHRISTIE: I understand but Jefferson Da —
HOSTIN: He wasn’t allowed to hold office again.
CHRISTIE: But he never tried to again. OK. So we never tested that, Sunny, right? It was never tested.
HOSTIN: There was precedent.
CHRISTIE: It was never tested because Jefferson Davis, if I you imagine saying this, the president of the Confederacy had some class. And decided never to run for office in the United States again.
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN: At least more than Trump!
CHRISTIE: That’s the point, right? Well, this has never been tested —
HOSTIN: The point is the Constitution, and there is a Constitution and there’s precedent. He needs to be taken out by the Constitution!
CHRISTIE: I understand. I understand that —
HOSTIN: The law applies to him like it applies to every single person.
CHRISTIE: It absolutely should. But the question I was asked was why I said what I said. And I, and I’m trying to be practical about this, Sunny. If, in fact, we take him off the ballot and he doesn’t have a chance to run, I think it’s going to cause conflict in this country well beyond what we have now.
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
