Chris Christie told Politico Thursday he blames White House senior adviser Jared Kushner for his ouster from President Donald Trump’s transition team.
The New Jersey Republican governor said he asked former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon whether Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and White House adviser, was behind his ouster and that Bannon "didn't answer."
Bannon, now in charge of Breitbart News, fired Christie as chair of the transition team.
"But [based on] subsequent conversations I've had with the president, I just don't believe this was the president's decision," said Christie.
Still, he holds no ill will toward Kushner and told Politico he would “never underestimate Jared’s ability to be involved in whatever he wants to be involved in” when asked about Kushner’s diminished White House role.
Politico's wide-ranging story on Christie was billed as "an epic exit interview."
In the report, Christie's longtime inner circle complained about the backlash from the beach photo taken outside the governor's beach house the weekend of the state shutdown, with one aide saying he would have "pummeled him in the face that day."
Christie also told the news outlet he felt burned by Republican governors when it came time to back his presidential campaign.
"I think it was an enormous leadership opportunity lost for the Republican governors," Christie said. "They just sat on the sidelines for reasons that I'll never completely understand because there were a lot of good candidates to pick from."
On Trump, Christie said he thinks the president is a good guy.
"Just when you think you’ve got him figured out, like in a bad way, he does something really generous and over-the-top that makes you go like, 'He is a good guy in his heart,'" he told Politico.
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