Chris Christie Becomes Powerful Figure in Donald Trump Campaign
Four months after endorsing Mr. Trump, Mr. Christie remains one of the few major figures in the Republican establishment to align himself entirely with Mr. Trump’s candidacy. In public, he has defended Mr. Trump’s freewheeling and sometimes offensive pronouncements, vouching for him even after Mr. Trump attacked a federal judge for his Mexican heritage. (Mr. Christie said he knew from personal experience that Mr. Trump was not a racist.)
.. Behind the scenes, Mr. Christie has prodded his fellow governors and Republican political donors to line up behind a candidate many view with distaste. He has made only modest headway in the last few months: Mr. Trump has struggled badly with fund-raising, and Mr. Christie has pleaded with donors in personal phone calls and at fund-raising events to give him a second look.
.. At a breakfast fund-raiser in Manhattan last week, Mr. Christie cajoled reluctant donors to back Mr. Trump, arguing that giving anything less than enthusiastic support would be a de facto vote for Hillary Clinton.
.. Mr. Christie’s new role is a stark transformation from a boastfully independent blue-state politician determined to win over female, Hispanic and Asian voters, to the right-hand man of the most culturally polarizing presidential candidate in a generation.
.. Mr. Christie has also acknowledged to friends that Mr. Trump seized much of the political space Mr. Christie had hoped to occupy in his own presidential run — that of a blunt leader with an expansive media profile and a forceful message on terrorism.
.. Mr. Trump thanked Mr. Christie for his political advice and his sophisticated grasp of government — and, perhaps most of all, for his part in demolishing Senator Marco Rubio’s presidential campaign.