Christie: Rollout of Trump travel ban ‘terrible’

Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) is defending President Trump, saying officials poorly rolled out his orders blocking the entry of refugees and citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries.

“I think the president’s intention here is right,” Christie said Tuesday, according to NJ 101.5 radio. “His intention is to try to protect our country from terrorist attacks from people who mean to do us harm.

“Secondly, the rollout of this executive order was terrible — the way people were not involved or consulted. There was confusion in the enforcement that went on here,” Trump’s former presidential rival said.

{mosads}“And the president deserved much better than the rollout he got of this plan. I think that’s what caused a lot of mistakes that were made. And those mistakes were unacceptable.”

Christie also dismissed critics who say the order is intended as a ban on Muslims.

“We know that that’s not what this policy is,” Christie said. “He’s backed off significantly from that position he had during the campaign. This is narrower than that.

 “However, I’ve always believed you need to make those decisions based upon intelligence, not on generalizations,” Christie added of immigrant and refugee vetting.

Trump signed an executive order on Friday imposing a 90-day ban on visitors from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

The measure also freezes all refugee admissions to the U.S. for 120 days and stops the flow of Syrian refugees indefinitely.

Trump’s action sparked a global outcry, with Democrats and human rights groups arguing it is unconstitutional and biased against Muslims.

The president’s order also brought as some agencies resisted or struggled with implementation.

Some officials said they had not been consulted or informed about the orders until they were signed.

Trump fired acting Attorney General Sally Yates late Monday after she refused to have the Justice Department defend the controversial order in court.

The White House issued a statement accusing Yates, who was appointed by former President Obama, of having “betrayed” the U.S. government.

Trump selected Dana Boente, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, to replace Yates until his attorney general nominee, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), is confirmed by the Senate. That vote could occur this week.