Christie (left), Christie nemesis (right).
Chris Christie must have known why rush-hour traffic backed up for miles for days on end near the George Washington Bridge. Or if he didn’t — then he’s incompetent.
Dannel P. Malloy offered that take Tuesday on Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie, the Republican governor of New Jersey.
Malloy, Connecticut’s Democratic governor, was speaking about the ongoing scandal over the September 2013 lane closures near the George Washington Bridge, allegedly ordered by top Christie aides to punish a local political rival. The government is prosecuting two Christie associates and a former top Christie aide in that scandal. Christie himself has not personally been charged; he denies having known about the act, and no evidence has emerged to prove he did (though a former Port Authority official said such “evidence exists” that Christie lied about not having known about the closures as they occurred).
Now Christie’s fortunes are rising as a candidate in New Hampshire’s Republican presidential primary. So Malloy — a designated Democratic attack dog for the season — was happy to press the matter about his nemesis, during an appearance Tuesday on WNHH radio’s “Dateline New Haven” program.
Malloy — the incoming chairman of the Democratic Governors Association and the first governor dispatched to New Hampshire to campaign for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton — was asked about Christie’s ascension as the favored mainstream GOP candidate. Here’s how the conversation ensued:
WNHH: [Christie] is emerging now as the establishment choice, the anti-Trump, in New Hampshire. What do you see going on there? How’s he’ going to do?
Malloy: Not well.
Is it going to be your role to take him down?
No, it’s not going to be my role to do anything. My role is to tell the truth, right? He promised to fund the pensions, and he hasn’t funded the pensions in New Jersey. The promise was that he got the legislature to change the pension system on the promise that he would fund the pension system, and he didn’t do it.
We have a $250 million, $220 million shortfall [in Connecticut pensions]. Last year New Jersey had a $2.5 billion downfall. They’ve been downgraded in nine years.
[And] don’t tell me the governor didn’t know that traffic was backed up on the George Washington Bridge.
You think he personally knew?
Oh yeah.
You don’t think it was just that people he trusted to break legs broke legs, and he didn’t want to hear about it?
I am made aware of major traffic problems in the state of Connecticut on a day-to-day basis.
You don’t think it was possible that he just hired people to get it done? “OK, there’s this Democratic mayor in north Jersey wouldn’t endorse me, so let’s tie up traffic …”
I don’t go there. To pretend you weren’t aware of multiple-hour back-ups day after day after day on the George Washington Bridge, and that you can’t move around one of your lead cities because of that back-up, is not believable.
Do you think he knew it was political payback for someone who wouldn’t endorse him?
What difference does it make? He would have known… He may have known.
“He knew or should have known” is what I’m hearing form you ….
Do you think if traffic was not moving in New Haven five days in a row for eight hours a day, I wouldn’t be aware of it, and I wouldn’t be asking questions and I wouldn’t be getting to the bottom of it? …
It’s gross incompetence if he didn’t know what was going on. Quite frankly, there’ll be more answers. We’ll understand this better.
Are you going to be talking about the bridge if he [continues] ascending?
Hey listen … I don’t think Gov. Christie would be a good president of the United States …
The Christie campaign did not respond to a request for comment as this story was published.
Paul Bass Photo
Malloy at WNHH Tuesday.
In the “Dateline New Haven” interview, Malloy also made a pitch for reforming the state pension system, argued against raising taxes to help close a $250-$300 million current-year budget gap, fielded listener questions about charter schools and labor givebacks, described his visit earlier Tuesday to New Haven’s Planned Parenthood office, reflected on his tenure as governor, and renewed his commitment to find state money to build a new Dixwell Community “Q” House and support a new development at the old Coliseum site — once those plans are finalized.
He said he believes in tackling big challenges — like rebuilding the state transportation system, reforming the criminal-justice system, finding a long-term pension fix — in public office. “I work hard. I pride myself on the work ethic,” he said. “A lot of folks don’t like me. A lot of folks don’t agree with me. There’s no one out there who says Dan Malloy doesn’t work hard.”
Click on or download the above sound file to listen to Malloy’s interview on the radio show. The discussion about Chris Christie begins at 45:20.