Remember how we first described Donald Trump's chances at Sunday's town-hall style debate: like rolling a Dumpster fire over a field of land mines? That's because it's such an uncontrolled environment compared to a traditional one moderator/one opponent debate. It's also a setting that Hillary Clinton typically thrives in.
Now add the sage advice of Chris Christie—the master of shouting down constituents—into the combustible mix. Robert Costa writes:
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), who has hosted countless forums with voters and is widely considered one of the GOP’s most talented performers in that setting, spent Sunday advising Donald Trump ahead of the upcoming town-hall debate, according to Rudolph W. Giuliani.
Giuliani, a former New York mayor and a Trump confidant, said in an interview late Sunday that Christie met with the Republican presidential nominee and his aides at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J., and played a “very valuable role” during an earlier preparation session that lasted all afternoon.
Okay, here's a question: You're a constituent with a problem and Trump, Christie, and Giuliani walk into the room—which one do you choose to ask? NONE! LOL. They're all a hair trigger away from biting your head off and eating you for lunch.
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To be fair, Christie really does have a long line of memorable constituent interactions to draw from, starting with telling a woman concerned about public schools, "First off, it's none of your business," or a Hurricane Sandy victim, "Sit down and shut up." Pure gold! And easily applicable to a variety of questions.
Look, if you had any plans for Sunday, just drop 'em. Imagine: You, some popcorn, and Trump, sans teleprompter with constituent whisperer Chris Christie in his ear.
Earlier this week, three reporters who have covered Trump throughout the campaign could barely come up with a single instance in which he's had a real interaction with regular voters on the trail. In the words of MSNBC's Katy Tur, "The times we've seen him interact one on one with voters have not been inspiring to put it — to say the least."
Nothing that a little Chris Christie mojo can't fix!
Here’s Tur: