Chris Christie says Trump ‘created’ Josh Shapiro with his ‘ridiculously stupid’ decision in 2022

WASHINGTON, DC: Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie held former president Donald Trump responsible for the political rise of Josh Shapiro, the Democratic Governor of Pennsylvania, during his conversation with ABC host George Stephanopoulos on the Sunday, August 4, episode of 'This Week'.

Shapiro, who is a leading candidate to become the running mate for Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, was aided by Trump when he endorsed Shapiro's controversial opponent Doug Mastriano in Pennsylvania’s 2022 gubernatorial election, believes Christie.

The decision can haunt the GOP nominee later if Shapiro is indeed named the Democratic vice presidential candidate and helps Harris secure victory in the upcoming general election.

Chris Christie on Kamala Harris' choice of running mate

Chris Christie told George Stephanopoulos that it was extremely important for Vice President Kamala Harris to choose right when it comes to running mate for the November election.

"It matters a lot,” he said. “I think it matters a lot for two reasons. One, it’s going to show whether she’s really trying to reach out to her entire party, and by extension, the entire country. I think she needs to pick someone that’s more moderate than her. I think she needs to pick someone who’s got more governing experience at the ground level. That’s why I think she will pick a governor.”

"Secondly, I think it’s really important because she’s going to send a really clear signal about how she makes decisions," Christie continued. "And look, when you are vice president, let’s face it. you don’t make a lot of decisions. The president makes those decisions, and you try to help him or her implement that, right?"

Chris Christie on Josh Shapiro and Donald Trump

Chris Christie made a case for Josh Shapiro on the show, arguing that the latter was very popular among Pennsylvanians. He also took the opportunity to bash Donald Trump at the same time, stating, "If she (Harris) picks Shapiro on Tuesday, Donald Trump created Josh Shapiro."

"How so?" questioned Stephanopoulos, leading Christie to explain, "He endorsed Mastriano, the weakest Republican candidate in that field."

"What it allowed Josh Shapiro to do was instead of playing to his base, he saw an opportunity for a coalition-building election and that’s what he did. Now he’s seen as a coalition builder because he did it, but the only reason he could do it is because Trump made another ridiculously stupid endorsement by endorsing Mastriano, who was a flawed, weak, bad candidate."

"If Josh Shapiro winds up winning and Trump loses Pennsylvania, he can go back to his decision in 2022 as planting the seeds for that loss," he added.

Internet reacts to Chris Christie's views on Donald Trump and Josh Shapiro

Netizens reacting to Chris Christie's take on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) were divided in their opinion. While some were in agreement with Donald Trump's decisions hurting the GOP, others rushed to point out that Josh Shapiro was popular enough to craft his own political rise without the help of Trump, as the following tweets demonstrate.

"Trump's support of any republican who was running in a primary against a seasoned republican who had criticized Trump, in one way or another, weakened the party across the nation. Trump cares more about getting retribution than anything else," wrote a user.

"Yeah, but… This is a complete misread of how popular Shapiro already was in the commonwealth. And that PA is a blue state when Trump isn’t on the ballot. Running against Mastriano made his election easier, but Shapiro would have trampled any Republican candidate in PA in 2022," shared another.

"Christie with an excellent point," observed a third.

"Josh Shapiro created Josh Shapiro. Period," stated a fourth user.

"His terrible endorsements are a good example of how much damage Trump does as the head of the party. I hope he retires if he loses so in 2026 the party is not subject to his influence in the primary," commented a Republican supporter.

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.