On Friday night, the New York Times dropped what may be a career-stopping bombshell on New Jersey Governor Chris Christie: David Wildstein, the former Port Authority official at the heart of the Chris Christie lane-closing scandal, had evidence that Christie himself knew of the closings, which is something that Christie himself has long denied. According to the Times, Wildstein said “that the governor knew about the lane closings when they were happening, and that he had the evidence to prove it.”
That evidence has yet to be revealed, but in a 24-hour news cycle and with all eyes on New York/New Jersey thanks to the Super Bowl, some wondered if this the end for Christie’s 2016 presidential run. Others rallied around other potential presidential hopefuls like Wisconsin’s Gov. Scott Walker.
On Friday night, the Daily Beast was quick to report that the Christie news makes Walker seem like an even more viable candidate: “There is one person who could fill Christie’s role as the establishment candidate. Indeed, he also holds real appeal to the base, and could bridge the divide between the two: Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker.”
“Now, Walker still needs to win reelection, which isn’t a given, though he had a substantial fundraising haul in the last quarter. But if he does, he will have solid credentials: A business-oriented blue state governor who beat unions, beat liberals, and implemented a whole host of right-wing reforms. He’s anti-abortion, anti-Obamacare, and has no interest in cooperating with Democrats,” reported The Daily Beast.
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Walker himself said that he’s focused on winning re-election this year and not what’s going to happen in 2016
The Associated Press reported the Christie camp “sent an email to politically-plugged in allies who might be in a position to defend Christie, bashing Wildstein and his accusations.”
And that message was received loud and clear by Congressman Paul Ryan, who appeared on ABC’s “This Week.” He described Wildstein allegations as “one person’s word against the other.”
“Nothing has been proven, and you always give the person the benefit of the doubt in those kinds of situations,” explained Ryan.
Needless to say, 2016’s campaign is already an interesting one, and Chris Christie is not going out without a fight.
Last week, Mitt Romney defended Christie on Neil Cavuto’s show on FoxNews.com. He also named his pick for possible 2016 GOP presidential candidates: Paul Ryan, Mike Huckabee, Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, and John Kasich.
“You didn’t mention Rand Paul and you didn’t mention Ted Cruz,” Cavuto said.
Romney took a shot at Paul and Cruz insinuating they don’t represent the “broad portion of the Party.”
“Well, they represent different parts of the party,” Romney said. “I’ll give them a chance to express their views, but I think we’re going to be best if we can unify behind a leader of the party who represents as broad a portion of the party as possible.”
Is Romney saying that unless you are a progressive Republican you will never win the Republican nomination?
Watch video below, via Fox News:
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