Disney rift

Christie takes aim at DeSantis over Disney rift

“I don’t think Ron DeSantis is a conservative, based on his actions towards Disney,” Christie said.

By KIERRA FRAZIER

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie took aim at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Tuesday, stating that if DeSantis were to win the presidency in 2024, Christie wouldn’t want him sitting across from Chinese President Xi Jinping or from Russian President Vladimir Putin to try to resolve the war in Ukraine.

“That’s not the guy I want sitting across from President Xi ... or sitting across from Putin and trying to resolve what’s happening in Ukraine, if you can’t see around a corner [Disney CEO] Bob Iger created for you,” Christie told Semafor during a livestreamed interview.

Christie’s comments come after Disney in February quietly, through a bureaucratic vote, gained back control of the Orlando-area park — though state officials didn’t learn of it until March. Disney’s move left DeSantis administration officials scrambling to respond, and the governor ordered an investigation into the California-based corporation.

“I don’t think Ron DeSantis is a conservative, based on his actions towards Disney,” Christie said.

Christie told Semafor Editor-at-Large Steve Clemons that he’ll make a decision in the next couple of weeks on whether he’ll run for president in 2024.

DeSantis has not yet announced a bid for president.

“If you’re going to be serious about this, you probably have to make a decision by May,” Christie said.

Christie was seen speaking to more than three dozen of his former staffers and advisors about a possible 2024 presidential run Monday night in Washington.

“If we go forward, we want all of you to be with us,” Christie told the room Monday. “Thank you to all of you for everything you’ve already done for us. It’s been really, really an amazing ride. And you know what? It might not just be over yet.”

Christie said Tuesday the field for 2024 looks “vacant compared to what I dealt with in 2016.”

“In 2016, none of us took Trump seriously,” Christie said about the primary field of his last presidential campaign.

Christie ran for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination but dropped out in late February of that year. He went on to become one of the first high-profile endorsers of former President Donald Trump, though the two aren’t close anymore following the Jan. 6 insurrection.

“You have someone who has had an affair with a porn star, paid her off $130,000 to cover it up, to keep that information from the American people ... That’s not the character of somebody who I think should be president of the United States.”