Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is apparently so starved for attention that he doesn’t care if it comes in the form of headlines like "Chris 'Sit Down and Shut Up' Christie Creates Think Tank Centered on Civility." Christie made his name, and his entire national reputation, as a bully: a guy who would yell at a public school teacher for daring to question him. But now? He claims that “Unfortunately our politics have gotten so ugly and divisive in the country that people are not having civilized conversations.”
So Chris Christie is going to be the guy to bring civility back to politics, one jabbing finger and barked insult at a time.
And no, he doesn't see a conflict between his new civility initiative and his continuing relationship with Donald Trump. “I think the negative tone in our politics existed long before Donald Trump,” Christie told NJ Advance Media—and again, he should know about the negative tone being around before Trump. “You’re never going to agree with anyone 100 percent of the time and I have a lot of Democrat friends who are using a lot of language that is very hot.” Democrat friends, mind you—nice little Republican insult thrown into his attempt to both-sides incivility in the age of Trump, allegedly in the name of civility.
The Christie Institute of Public Policy’s first event, in conjunction with Seton Hall Law School, will be a discussion between Christie and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on “how Christie, a Republican, worked together with the Democratic governor for eight years.” In other words, Christie hopes to be rebranded as a Serious Guy who can Work Across The Aisle while also being buddies with Trump—just in time for whatever reckoning he figures the Republican Party is going to face post-Trump.