Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was grilled by NBC anchor Kristen Welker for his past support for Donald Trump during the 2016 election despite his claims of election fraud.

Christie was one of the first major Republicans back to Trump for president after dropping out of the 2016 primary. However, after losing the Iowa Caucus to Ted Cruz, Trump floated claims of election fraud and Christie continued to support his candidacy because he “didn’t want Hillary Clinton” to win.

During a Sunday interview on Meet The Press, Welker confronted Christie — nowadays one of Trump’s most outspoken critics — for his shift from friend to foe over the few years. Welker noted that Christie supported Trump through many of his scandals during and after 2016, including during Charlottesville riot and the Access Hollywood tape.

“I supported him in 2016 because he was going to be the nominee because I didn’t want Hillary Clinton to be president of the United States. And I make no apologies for that. I still don’t want Hillary Clinton to be president, United States. But I broke from the president very clearly for President Trump on election night 2020,” Christie responded.

Christie then stumbled when Welker noted he helped Trump prepare for a debate against Clinton after he said he would not accept the election results if he lost.

“You helped prepare him for a debate in 2016 against Hillary Clinton when he said he wouldn’t accept the election results, governor,” she told Christie.

“Well, look, Kirsten, the fact of the matter is that I didn’t want Hillary Clinton to be president of the United States. And this is much different, much different when you’re president of United States and people think you actually know something,” he claimed. “That’s what made what he did in 2020 so destructive. And we know from looking at what’s happened since then that a lot of American people believed it because he was president, because they thought he knew things they didn’t know.”

Watch the full segment above via NBC.

The post Christie Scrambles as Kristen Welker Grills Him About Why He Let Trump Skate On Election Denial in 2016: ‘I Didn’t Want Hillary’ first appeared on Mediaite.

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