What To Know
- Chris Christie revealed on Real Time With Bill Maher that many Republican politicians privately criticize Donald Trump while publicly praising him.
- Christie shared that colleagues often commend his outspoken stance against Trump in private but feel compelled to support Trump publicly for political reasons.
- When pressed for names, Christie specifically mentioned Senator Lindsey Graham as an example of this behavior.
Chris Christie confessed to Bill Maher that some Republicans privately criticize President Donald Trump while lauding the POTUS publicly.
On the Friday, February 6 episode of Real Time With Bill Maher, the late-night host, 70, sat down with Christie, 63 — a former two-term governor of New Jersey, 2024 presidential candidate, and current political and legal contributor for ABC News — and Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, 57.
During the “Overtime” segment of Maher’s HBO show, Freeland asked Christie, “What do Republicans say to each other when we’re not listening about what’s happening in America right now?”
“Look, so many of my fellow party members, especially, come up to me because I say all this stuff out loud,” he admitted. “And they — in the green room at ABC, they’ll say, ‘You’re so brave. That’s so great. I totally agree with you. [Trump’s] nuts.’ And then they go out on camera to be interviewed, and they go, ‘The greatest president since Abraham Lincoln.’”
Christie added, “And then they come back in the green room, and they say to me, ‘You know, I have to do that. But like, I don’t really mean it.’ That’s what they say.”
To that, Maher then asked, “Like who, specifically?”
After a generous round of applause and cheering, Christie pointed out, “Bill, ‘Overtime’s’ not long enough to give you all the names, but I’ll give you one: Lindsey Graham.”
He added of Graham, a 70-year-old U.S. senator from South Carolina,” Which, by the way, was when [Trump] was running for president in 2016. But I guess if you get invited to play golf, then off you go.”
Maher replied, “Well, knock me over with a feather boa that I’m wearing with a silk robe.”
Real Time With Bill Maher, Fridays at 10/9c, HBO