Chris Christie: “Do the Right Thing” and Reelect “Courageous” Scott Walker

Wisconsin Gov. Scott WalkerCourtney Clip/ZUMA

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.


It’s not just the Republican Party’s biggest donors rallying behind Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in the run-up to his June 5 recall election.

On Tuesday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie swooped in to the Badger State to campaign alongside Walker, calling the embattled governor “courageous” and a principled flag-bearer for the conservative movement, according to Politico. Christie told attendees at a rally in the city of Oak Park to “do the right thing” by re-electing Walker.

“Do you stand behind courageous leaders who stand for their principles or do you walk away from them? Wisconsin’s going to answer that question for America,” Christie said. “And when you answer that question the right way and you keep Scott Walker in the state house in Madison, believe me—it’s going to change America, everybody.”

Christie cast Walker’s recall as a battle pitting “the people” against “the money [and] special interests from Washington, DC.” In Christie’s telling, those out-of-state special interests are labor unions, which are spending millions to defeat Walker. The irony, of course, is that Walker has for months flown around the country raking in money for his recall war chest from some of the wealthiest donors in America. Since January he’s raised $13.2 million, two-thirds of which came from out-of-state donors. Walker’s top donors include Houston-based homebuilding tycoon Bob Perry, who’s given $500,000, and Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who’s given $250,000.

Christie and the labor unions do agree on one thing: a lot is at stake in Walker’s recall fight. A win for Walker would seem to validate his anti-union, deregulatory agenda; a loss would deal him a stunning rebuke, a rejection of the hard-line conservative policies peddled by Walker and fellow GOP governors including Christie, Michigan’s Rick Snyder, and Florida’s Rick Scott. From now until recall time, Christie said, “Wisconsin is going to be the center of the American political universe.”

Here’s the video of Christie’s appearance, via Politico:

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with The Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

AN IMPORTANT UPDATE

We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals and we can’t sustain coming up short on donations month after month. Perhaps you’ve heard? It is impossibly hard in the news business right now, with layoffs intensifying and fancy new startups and funding going kaput.

The crisis facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. And neither is Mother Jones, our readers, or our unique way of doing in-depth reporting that exists to bring about change.

Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and joined forces with The Center for Investigative Reporting, a team of ace journalists who create the amazing podcast and public radio show Reveal.

If you can part with even just a few bucks, please help us pick up the pace of donations. We simply can’t afford to keep falling behind on our fundraising targets month after month.

Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery said it well to our team recently, and that team 100 percent includes readers like you who make it all possible: “This is a year to prove that we can pull off this merger, grow our audiences and impact, attract more funding and keep growing. More broadly, it’s a year when the very future of both journalism and democracy is on the line. We have to go for every important story, every reader/listener/viewer, and leave it all on the field. I’m very proud of all the hard work that’s gotten us to this moment, and confident that we can meet it.”

Let’s do this. If you can right now, please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate