New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) told reporters Thursday he reached out to President Barack Obama with a personal phone call to congratulate him on his reelection. Mitt Romney, the man Christie had campaigned with and raised money for, got a conciliatory email, the governor said.
“We didn’t have a political strategy discussion," Christie said of his Wednesday phone chat with Obama, Bloomberg reports. "I said, 'Congratulations on your win last night, Mr. President,' and he said, 'Thank you.'"
Asked if he'd given Romney the same treatment, Christie said that he hadn't.
“No; we exchanged e-mails last night,” Christie said, according to Bloomberg. “We haven’t spoken on the phone yet.”
There has been plenty of blame to go around after Romney's sizable defeat on Tuesday, an outcome that Republicans and Romney's campaign were quick to admit was as a huge surprise. Christie has been a favorite scapegoat among Romney supporters who claim that the New Jersey governor's public praise of Obama's handling of Superstorm Sandy damaged Romney's campaign in its last days.
Christie has rejected such criticism, maintaining that he full-heartedly supported Romney. Christie said there were no political undertones in his coordination with Obama in efforts to deal with devastation from the storm.
“My activity with President Obama was just another chapter in the leadership I’ve tried to show in this state, which is people care more about getting things done than they care about partisanship,” he said Wednesday, according to the New York Daily News.
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