Christie calls

Chris Christie calls on Clinton to suspend her campaign

By Nick Gass

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday suggested that Hillary Clinton suspend her campaign, saying that the Democratic front-runner needs to go to Paris and repeat her line that the U.S. is "finally ... where we need to be" in the fight against Islamic State.

Appearing on "Fox and Friends" from his campaign bus in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Christie again touted his experience as a federal prosecutor of convicted terrorists and his ability to strike the right chord of seriousness in light of the recent attacks in both Paris and San Bernardino, California.

"Everyone else on that stage, the most they’ve ever done is be briefed about them. I’ve actually done it. I’ve used the PATRIOT Act, I’ve used the foreign intelligence court, I know what actionable intelligence is, I know how investigations work, and I know how to stop terrorists," he said. "I know how to do that."

Christie then alluded to reported remarks from President Barack Obama, who said that he does not watch enough cable news to quickly understand the extent of Americans' anxiety about terrorism.

"Bad news," Christie commented. "And secondly, you had Hillary Clinton the other night saying that we’re exactly where we want to be on ISIS. Here’s my suggestion to her: suspend your campaign, get on a plane to Paris, and go and look in the eyes of the families of those dead victims and tell them we’re exactly where we want to be on ISIS."

Asked how he planned to siphon attention from the perpetual back and forth between Clinton and Republican poll leader Donald Trump, Christie again offered himself as the candidate of substance and security.

"You think anybody really cares whether Hillary Clinton apologizes to Donald Trump or Donald Trump apologizes to Hillary Clinton? They need to stop being so self-consumed and start talking about what people want to hear, which is how are we going to keep the homeland safe and protect it," he said. "And that’s not any of this discussion is about, so when I’m out at town hall meetings and I’ve done four now in the last three days here, no one has asked me do I think Hillary Clinton should apologize or do I think Donald Trump should apologize."

"Real voters don’t care," he continued. "This is what consumes the people in Sixth Avenue in New York City, but it doesn’t consume the people around the country.”

In a later television hit with MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Christie again hammered Clinton, this time in relation to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Christie called Putin "certainly decisive" but suggested that his tactics would not work with a president "who will push back on him." With Clinton, he said, that would not happen, referencing her reset in relations that was followed by Putin's annexation of Crimea and the war in eastern Ukraine.