Christie: ‘All garbage’ that style can’t appeal outside NJ

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said Monday assertions that his style would not play in other regions around the country are “all garbage.”

Christie, a potential candidate for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016, said despite regional differences, people respond to authenticity. 

{mosads}”I hear people all the time say, ‘Oh you wouldn’t play well in the South’ or ‘You wouldn’t play well in Iowa.’ It is all garbage,” Christie said on a local sports radio show Monday. “There is some regional differences in our country. But in the end, people like people who are genuine, who are real.”

Some Republicans, including Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), have said it would be hard for Christie to win the presidential nomination. Rather than citing Christie’s sometimes abrasive style, Paul has said it would be hard for the New Jersey governor to win in early nominating states because he is not conservative enough. 

But Christie said a politician’s authenticity can make up for a difference in views. 

“I think it plays anywhere, because I think people want folks who are real,” he said. “And I think they are willing to cut you slack even if they don’t agree with you on certain things if they think you are being genuine and authentic.”

The conversation started with a discussion of Christie’s preference for the Dallas Cowboys football team, rather than a New York team. He said he has “paid politically” for it in the past. During his first campaign for governor, he said some aides tried to get him to support the Jets. 

“What happens if you win having pretended to be someone else?” he asked. “You got to keep pretending to be that other person. And that is no fun.”

He made similar comments earlier this year while he battled the scandal surrounding lane closures on the George Washington Bridge orchestrated by at least one member of his staff in an act of political retribution.