Chris Christie says ‘Nuts!’ to another Trump candidacy | Mulshine

Chris Christie’s timing couldn’t have been better.

Last week he gave a speech to a gathering of conservatives at which he argued that the days of Donald Trump as a force in the Republican Party are rapidly coming to a close.

And then Trump went out and proved it.

The proof came in an interview Friday with the Gateway Pundit in which The Donald said of the 2020 presidential election, “I do believe they’re going to decertify this election.”

Trump didn’t say who “they” are. But the 2020 presidential election was certified on Dec. 14. That’s when the Electoral College met and gave Joe Biden enough votes to defeat Trump.

Does he believe the electors will meet again and declare him the winner? That would be “just plain nuts” if I may invoke a phrase from Christie’s address the day before to an audience of top Republicans at the Reagan Library in California.

Christie didn’t mention The Donald by name. But there was no doubt he was talking about Trump and his faithful followers when he said, “Enough with the wishful thinking and self-delusion … We need to renounce the conspiracy theorists and truth deniers, the ones who know better and the ones who are just plain nuts.”

Christie was the first major figure in the GOP to line up behind Trump back in the 2016 campaign. He was also the first establishment figure to break with the Trump over his antics on Jan. 6.

As Trump supporters were storming the Capitol, Christie said on ABC News that he was trying to get Trump on the phone to tell him to call off his supporters.

“I haven’t been successful yet but I’m going to continue to try,” he said.

Trump just let the chaos continue.

“As someone who has known him for 20 years, today breached something none of us should have to put up with by anybody who’s given the honor of being an elected leader in this country,” Christie said of Trump that day.

The two haven’t talked since, Christie told me recently. But when Christie’s next book comes out shortly, I expect he’ll have lots to say about The Donald’s crazy conduct after the election, including the suggestion he declare martial law to prevent the transition.

The reality for Republicans is that the guy who promised them they’d get tired of winning ended up as the biggest loser in recent political history. Under his leadership the GOP lost control of the House, the Senate and finally the presidency.

He did perform a valuable service for the GOP. As Christie noted on a Sunday morning talk show, Trump kept us from having two President Clintons.

But having performed that service, what else could he do for Republican voters?

I put that question to a couple of party insiders.

State Sen. Joe Pennacchio of Morris County, who was one of The Donald’s first major supporters in the state, said Trump would have a good chance of repeating his 2016 performance if there’s a crowded field like there was that year.

“There’s no way he doesn’t win if there are six or more candidates,”…