Christie strategist: Bannon’s Cabinet claim ‘simply not true’

Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon’s claim that President Trump did not offer Chris Christie (R) a Cabinet position is false, according to a longtime strategist for the New Jersey governor.

“I am not certain what criteria the president used to decide on Cabinet members, but the assertion is simply not true,” Mike DuHaime, Christie’s chief campaign strategist, told the Independent Journal Review in an email.

DuHaime said that Christie had in fact been considered for several different positions in the administration.

“Governor Christie was offered more than a half-dozen different cabinet positions, ambassadorships and senior White House positions,” DuHaime wrote. “He turned them all down because he wanted to serve out his term as Governor.”

{mosads}DuHaime, who ran both of Christie’s campaigns for governor, told the publication that Christie “continues to be a supporter and friend of the president’s.”

In a CBS interview with Charlie Rose, Bannon said Christie was not offered a Cabinet position because he was insufficiently loyal after an “Access Hollywood” clip surfaced where Trump boasted about grabbing women. The off-camera banter was with Billy Bush, a host of the show. 

“Christie, because of Billy Bush weekend, was not looked at for a Cabinet position,” Bannon said.

“I told him the plane leaves at 11 o’ clock in the morning. If you make the plane, you make the team. He didn’t make the plane,” Bannon said.

Bannon, seen by many as an architect of Trump’s policy agenda, was pushed out of as White House strategist in August, and has since returned to his executive position at Breitbart News.