There’s such a thing as acting presidential. And then there’s Chris Christie over the past week.
Christie (R) kicked things off with a public back-and-forth with Kaci Hickox, a nurse from Maine who was quarantined in New Jersey after spending time in West Africa treating patients with Ebola.
Christie insisted that it was an appropriate response because Hickox “was running a high fever and was symptomatic.” Hickox said she was flushed, but never febrile or sick. After Hickox tested negative for Ebola, she was released Monday and sent home to Maine. She threatened to sue over her weekend in quarantine, a move that prompted this gem from Christie: “Whatever. Get in line. I’ve been sued lots of times before.”
He was just getting started. On Wednesday, Christie was in Belmar, N.J., to commemorate the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Sandy. His speech was interrupted by a man named Jim Keady, a former member of the Asbury Park City Council, who was urging Christie to get Sandy relief money to affected families faster.
It quickly became apparent that neither Christie nor Keady was going to back down. As Keady yelled without a microphone, the governor yelled with one. “Somebody like you doesn’t know a damn thing about what you’re talking about, except to stand up and show off when the cameras are here,” Christie said. “… All you’ve been doing is flapping your mouth and not doing anything,” he added, before telling Keady to “sit down and shut up.”
Christie, of course, has built a national reputation — and some 2016 presidential buzz — around his willingness to face down his opponents in blunt terms. But there’s a fine line between speaking truth to power and being a bully. Christie crossed it this past week.
Chris Christie, for browbeating rather than leading, you had the worst week in Washington. Congrats, or something.
Cillizza covers the White House for The Washington Post and writes The Fix, its politics blog.