Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said his hot mic remark last month predicting GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley would get “smoked” in the race against former President Trump was a “complete mistake,” but he did not apologize for making the comment.
In a preview of a “Good Morning America” interview set to air Tuesday, Christie recounted the hot mic moment that took place just minutes before he suspended his presidential campaign, when Christie was heard saying about Haley, “She’s gonna get smoked. And you and I both know it, she’s not up to this.”
“What was going on there?” ABC News host George Stephanopoulos asked Christie in the interview.
“I’ll tell you, George, it was a complete mistake, but the way I found out is actually the funniest part of the story,” Christie said. “I had my phone on vibrate, but the only person whose ringtone bursts through when I have it on vibrate is my son, Andrew. And the phone rang, and I picked it up, and I said, ‘I’m getting ready to go out,’ and he goes, ‘Hot mic! Hot mic! Hot mic!’”
Christie continued: “He was in the Dominican Republic watching on the live stream. And that’s how I found out that the mic was hot.”
Christie said he spoke briefly to Haley the following day but that he did not offer an apology, nor did she ask for one.
“It was a 45-second conversation,” Christie said. “She told me, ‘I know it’s personal decision to get in a race. And it’s a tough decision to get out. I heard everything you said last night, including the hot mic.’ And I said, ‘Uh huh.’ And she said, ‘Well, good luck,’ and I said, ‘Good luck to you.’”
Stephanopoulos followed up, asking, “So she didn’t ask for an apology, and you didn’t give one?”
“No, there’s no apology warranted,” Christie said.
While there was some speculation on whether Christie would endorse a candidate when he left the race, he made clear in his speech he would not endorse someone who would still vote for Trump if he were a convicted felon — a question candidates were asked during the first 2024 GOP debate. Haley, along with all but two candidates, indicated she would still support Trump.
Christie reaffirmed that sentiment in his interview with Stephanopoulos, who asked the former governor whether he could imagine himself endorsing Haley “a little bit down the road.”
“No, not based on what she’s said,” Christie said. “Look, imagine the position I’d be in. If I endorsed someone who then turned around and endorsed Donald Trump. I’m not gonna be put in that spot again, George.”
“I made a decision in 2016. The only time in my political career where I endorsed someone purely for political reasons, even though I had some misgivings. And that’s why I endorsed Donald Trump. And it was the biggest mistake I made in my political career. And I’m just not going to repeat that mistake for anybody,” Christie said.