Chris Christie
Running for: US President
Chris Christie announced his campaign for president in June. He is a fiery critic of former president Trump and called him "a bitter, angry man who wants power back for himself." Christie has his own share of controversies, including so-called "Bridgegate," but argues he owns up to his mistakes and wants to bring the country together.
Position on Issues
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In a 2015 Wall Street Journal op-ed, Christie proposed cutting the corporate tax rate from 35% to 25%.
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"We have argued as conservatives for 50 years that this should not be a federal issue, that Roe was wrong, and that it should be an issue decided state by state. We now have that opportunity to let states to make that decision state by state. Let's see what the states do here and see if they form a national consensus, because there's no way you're going to get 60 votes in the Senate for anything unless you have formed a national consensus."
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In a CNN Town Hall, Chris Christie said, "The reason we're struggling to make ends meet is because government spending under Joe Biden has gone completely out of control. The first thing we have to do, and one of the first things I would do as president, is to say, we are imposing fiscal discipline again in this country. Job one is to get spending under control, because, the more we spend, the less you can spend. And that's what's horrible for families making ends meet."
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Asked about the Federal Reserve interest rate hikes, Christie said, "They probably should take a bit of a breather, to see what the lag effect is, as you said, because what we're not seeing is, we're not seeing inflation staying. We're seeing it drop. And so I think the Fed may have done its work already."
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"On Ukraine I will say this. I think the way we need to look at this is, this is a proxy war with China. The Chinese are supplying the Russians with money by buying their oil. The Chinese are providing drones to the Iranians, and the Iranians are using those drones to kill soldiers in Ukraine. So, none of us like the idea that there's a war going on and that we're supporting it. But the alternative is for the Chinese to take over, the Russians, the Iranians, and the North Koreans, a bad foursome."
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Christie has repeatedly mocked Trump over the former president's plan to build a wall on the southern border. However, at a 2023 town hall he said, "Look, at this point, I think we've started to build it; let's finish it. I mean, I probably wouldn't have done that at the start, and I said that at the time. But now we've spent this money on building some of it; you might as well finish it now."
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Other, 2023
During his 2016 presidential campaign, Christie vowed to enforce the federal laws against marijuana, even in states that had legalized recreational use. However, in 2018 he said "states have the right to do what they want to do on [marijuana]." At a 2023 CNN Town Hall he said he wanted to "end" the drug war and "focus on treatment." However, he did not specifically mention marijuana at that event.
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Christie has not specifically addressed a minimum age for firearm purchases. However, he generally opposes gun control. At a 2023 CNN Town Hall he said, "I don't think with 350 million or so guns out there, that tighter gun control is going to keep the gun out of the hands of someone who's going to do what happened in Las Vegas or what happened in Uvalde or what happened in Sandy Hook. You know, in some of those, people had guns that they illegally owned in their own home and the people took them, right? I really think that we need to, one, have law enforcement become much more sensitive to what they're seeing from a mental health perspective with people in the community. Because, in the end, those people almost always send off signs and signals."
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As governor of New Jersey, Christie vetoed a tax increase on earnings over $1 million. Christie also opposed the Biden administration proposal to impose a tax when a family passes down assets with unrealized capital gains.
"Well, look, what's happening here -- and you're going to see a lot more focus on the huge increase in the family business tax that Joe Biden is proposing, that any family who tries to pass a business or a farm down to their -- to their son or daughter or grandson or granddaughter are going to pay a huge new tax, and going to be forced to potentially sell their farm, sell their business to pay that tax," Christie said on ABC. "They're not going to want that. And when they see the stock market tank, if he actually is able to double the capital gains tax, and they see the diminution and maybe, in some instances, destruction of their 401(k), threat IRA, and wondering, how are they going to retire or how are they going to pay for their children's education, believe me, they're not going to care how amiable Joe Biden is at that point. They're going to -- they're going to be very, very angry."
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During the 2016 presidential primary, Christie accused Hillary Clinton of supporting universal, single-payer, government-run health care. "That’s what she and her socialist friend Bernie Sanders are going to advocate for … and I’m going to stop it," he said. "Fact is we should go to a state-based market solution that’s what would be best for health care."
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"I think there should be term limits for everybody. I think the term limits should be for the folks in the House, they get six terms, twelve years. And for the folks in the Senate, they get two terms, twelve years."
