I can respect Toro for that. Toro is a Republican.
Christie was not the world’s worse governor of New Jersey, either. Never liked him myself. But I never saw him as a threat to the nation or our democracy like Trump is. He was just a clever Republican politician and a bit of an arrogant fat bully … like Trump himself. But Christie never went completely overboard. He was not crazy.
I hated to see Christie support Trump early on, but back then lots of Republicans thought Trump would be redeemable and learn to work with others and act like a President and not a spoiled child.
“The Donald” had given financial support and worked closely with Democrats for years in NYC. Trump for decades was far closer to Democrats than Christie had been in New Jersey. Christie was actually harder on Dems than Trump for his whole career! And he had been that way even while having to fight to get legislation passed and administer a historically Democratic state. That showed executive and political skill!
Trump just had the acting ability and the demagogic chops to tap deeply into all the disgruntled manias of unsung losers and the “left-out American Everyman.” He also had the ambition and lack of principles to change his position on most anything to get elected. So he could overnight become a hero to Southern Christian Fundamentalists, anti-abortionist fanatics, and rail against Democrats he had praised the year before and for decades.
Trump even said some good things early on that I agreed with. So far as I remember, Christie actually
did some good things in New Jersey … though I can’t remember any details now. I suppose Toro can remind us … ?