Christie: ‘If I was in the Senate right now, I’d kill myself’

{mosads}Christie on Friday told the editorial board of the Philadelphia Enquirer that he has never been interested in being a member of a legislative body.  

Christie was briefly in Washington earlier this week to visit interim New Jersey Sen. Jeff Chiesa (R). While in the Capitol on Wednesday he sat down with GOP Senate leadership, at his own request. 

“What I said to any of them that I met with: Get the government reopened, stop monkeying around, and get back to work,” he said. “I said I’m out there in the field, people have no patience for this stuff. None.”

Christie has been widely critical of the legislative branch of government in the past. In a recent interview he said the executive is the only person who can force a compromise. He has also blasted members of Congress for being too quick to disparage their opponents in the press. 

Christie is expected to easily win reelection this year and is seen as a potential GOP presidential candidate in 2016. 

He reiterated that he sees the shutdown and the overall budget stalemate as a failure of leadership on both sides. 

“The president saw this train coming for a long time,” he said. “All of a sudden today’s the first day he has anyone over to the White House? Same thing with the Speaker, same thing with the majority.”

Republicans have been badly damaged in the polls, but Christie said it likely would not hurt the party in the long term. 

“Certainly right now the Republican party is taking the brunt of the blame,” he said. But he did not say whether the GOP deserved it. 

“I’m not a pundit,” he said.