New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was nearly Donald Trump's vice president pick, according to The New York Post. And all he had to do was kiss some Trump ass to do it.
In the week leading up to the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July, Trump was still deciding between his eventual running mate Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, Christie, and former House speaker Newt Gingrich, according to The Post.
The Republican presidential nominee was resistant to tapping Pence — the conservative who then-campaign chair Paul Manafort and Trump's kids "argued . . . would unify the party and appeal to evangelical Christians who had not supported Trump in the primary."
"Trump cares about who’s the most loyal and who kisses his ass the most, not who’s the most qualified and what’s the best political decision," a source told The Post. "If it was up to him, it would have been Christie."
Christie's ass-kissing efforts were the subject of a handful of news cycles, perhaps most notably when he — seemingly begrudgingly — stood behind Trump during a victory speech at Mar-a-Lago in March.
A second source told The Post that on July 12, one day before he was set to meet with Pence in Indianapolis, Trump haphazardly offered the veep slot to Christie.
Per the New York Post:
After Trump tentatively decided on Christie, Manafort told Trump his plane had a mechanical problem, campaign sources said, forcing Trump to spend another night in the Hoosier State. Pence then made his case to be Trump’s No. 2 over dinner as Trump’s advisers argued that Christie’s Bridgegate troubles would sink the campaign.
. . .
Trump agreed to name Pence the next day and broke the news to Christie, saying it would “tear my family apart if I gave you VP,” a source said.
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