Chris Christie Says Trump Needs to ‘Keep Michael Flynn and Sidney Powell Out of the Oval Office’

Sarah RumpfDec 20th, 2020, 9:06 pm
 

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie had blunt advice for President Donald Trump on Sunday: keep Michael Flynn and Sidney Powell out of the Oval Office.

Christie made the comments in an appearance on The Situation Room, in response to host Wolf Blitzer asking what he thought about the reports that Trump had actually discussed with Flynn and other advisers the idea of “invoking martial law” to try to overturn the election.

Christie began his response by citing former President Ronald Reagan’s comment that “personnel is policy.”

“What he meant was, the people who surround you and what they do will help to determine policy,” Christie explained. “This is why Michael Flynn never belongs near the White House let alone inside the Oval Office,” and the same goes for lawyer Sidney Powell, who represented Flynn and now has been filing a string of lawsuits making baseless claims of election fraud.

Christie also noted that he had been warning since the 2016 transition in 2016, how dangerous he thought Flynn was, having been in the room with him and Trump during security briefings.

“I will tell you he’s not fit to be giving advice to anyone,” declared Christie. “And my advice is to keep Michael Flynn and Sidney Powell out of the Oval Office and those bad ideas will stay out of the Oval Office as well.”

Christie also called out Trump for continuing to push baseless claims of election fraud since November 3rd, despite never being able to show any evidence for it.

“We’re now sitting here on December 20th and I still have not seen the evidence nor has any court seen the evidence,” said Christie. “In fact, every court that has looked at the evidence has not supported these cases. In fact, it’s thrown them out.”

UPDATE 9:30 pm ET: So far, it appears that Christie’s advice is going unheeded. CNN’s Jeremy Diamond tweeted recently that Powell was just spotted leaving the White House.

The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman confirmed Diamond’s report, noting that her source said that Powell was “once again pitching an executive order on seizing voting machines to examine them.”

Watch the video above, via CNN.

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Sarah Rumpf - Contributing Editor

Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law&Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe. Follow Sarah on Threads, Twitter, and Bluesky.