GOP candidate Chris Christie called on his fellow candidates to focus on presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, not each other in next week's Fox Business News debate.
"We don't need to make it personal," the New Jersey governor told
Fox News' "America's Newsroom" program. "We need to focus on Hillary Clinton. We are going to win the battle and lose the war, and I want to be president of the United States."
And meanwhile, he said that despite the ongoing battle from some other candidates to bring the debates back under their control, Christie said he'll debate anywhere.
"You will put one in the middle of the square here in Manchester, [New Hampshire], I'll do it there," Christie said. "I'm looking forward to being in a debate in Milwaukee Tuesday and to remind everybody that our real adversary here is in Chappaqua, N.Y, not the men and women on the stage. [Clinton's] vision for America is the wrong direction for our country."
Also on the program, Christie talked about a viral video of him speaking out against drug addiction, saying that the country's drug problem is "enormous."
In the video, Christie is shown speaking of a law school friend who was "not what people stereotypically think of as a drug addict."
He was a "trained lawyer, father, husband, successful partner in a law firm," Christie told Fox News about his friend. "Hurts his back and gets addicted to prescription drugs, 50 years old and he's dead."
Part of the issue, said Christie, is that states are legalizing marijuana for recreational use, and it "is a gateway drug."
Drug abuse affects everybody, he continued, and treatment is needed.
"They are not going to get treatment if they are in prison," he said. "Folks who are nonviolent and getting themselves in trouble with the law, we need to get them treatment. We do that for everybody who is a first-time, non-violent offender."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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