ABC News political commentator Chris Christie took to the Quick Center stage with wit and humor as he unpacked post-Election Day results.
“Winning is important. The people who win are the people who decide.”
— Chris Christie
“Winning is important. The people who win are the people who decide.” With little more than two hours of sleep following ABC News’ on-going 2018 Midterm election coverage, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, now a political commentator for ABC, took to the Quick Center stage with wit and humor for a post-Election Day discussion.
The format was Fairfield’s signature Open VISIONS Forum, which Christie kicked off with the day’s headlines: Democrats winning the majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, the number of wins by Republican governors—the highest in 100 years, the highest voter turnout ever for a Midterm election, and how Connecticut Republicans fared. Equally as newsworthy were reports circulating the day after Christie visited Fairfield — that he is being considered by President Trump as a possible replacement for Jeffrey Sessions as attorney general.
Drawing hearty laughs throughout the evening from a captivated audience, Christie recounted experiences as New Jersey’s 55th governor, where he served two terms from 2010 to 2018. He poked fun at both Democrats and Republicans, the President, and himself, recalling how he answers when people ask him about having voted for President Trump: “I didn’t want to; I wanted to vote for me.”
Looking ahead and considering what impact Tuesday's so-called 'most important ever' elections will have on the 2020 Presidential election, the former governor turned political analyst opined, “absolutely nothing.”
“In America, we almost always vote for the most likeable candidate," Christie explained. "2020 will be determined by who’s on that stage with Donald Trump, and whether they’re likeable.”
Christie was introduced by Fairfield University President Mark R. Nemec, PhD, and was joined on stage by moderator Philip Eliasoph, PhD, Open VISIONS Forum director and professor of Art History and Visual Culture. The Q & A portion of the event included questions from panelists: Fairfield University's College Democrats co-president, Sabina Dirienzo ’19; president of the College Republicans at Fairfield, Sophia Dondero ’20; Republican consultant and former chief of staff for the Connecticut GOP, Liz Kurantowicz; and her fellow panelist on WTNH’s Sunday morning “Capitol Report ” program, Democratic political consultant Jennifer Schneider.
