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 Adding to his woes, six New Jersey newspapers called on Christie
to resign, partly for endorsing Trump after dropping out of the race
to become the Republican Party's candidate in November's election.
A Christie spokesman, Brian Murray, declined to comment immediately
on the editorial, which appeared in newspapers owned by Gannett Co
Inc <GCI.N>.
Christie surprisingly endorsed Trump on Friday, calling the
billionaire New York businessman "the best person to beat Hillary
Clinton in November."
Some questioned whether Christie's enthusiasm was genuine following
his appearance at Trump's event in Palm Beach, Florida on Tuesday
night. Trump appeared before TV cameras after news media
organizations declared him the winner of some of the state-by-state
primaries and caucuses and as Super Tuesday results continued
rolling in.
Christie introduced Trump, then stood behind and just to the right
of the brash billionaire. The governor stared blankly ahead, at
times looking troubled, as Trump took reporters' questions.
The reaction to Christie's demeanor was swift and unforgiving on
social media.
"This is what a man collapsing under the weight of his own shame
looks like," Sean D. Illing (@sean_illing) tweeted on Tuesday.
"Did #ChrisChristie look pathetic standing behind #Trump, or
what?!?" Karen Walz (@khwalz) tweeted on Wednesday.
News website BuzzFeed on Tuesday evening tweeted a clip of the video
footage set to the classic Simon and Garfunkel song "Sounds of
Silence," with the caption "Hello darkness, my old friend," a lyric
from the song.
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Christie spokesman Murray would not comment on the social media
reaction, saying in an email, "I'll let you know when we opt to
slide down into that muck."
In the editorial calling on Christie to resign, the six newspapers,
including the Asbury Park Press, called his endorsement
hypocritical.
"We’re disgusted with (Christie's) endorsement of Donald Trump after
he spent months on the campaign trail trashing him, calling him
unqualified by temperament and experience to be president," the
editorial read.
Christie, serving the second of two four-year terms, is not slated
to leave office until December 2017.
(Reporting By Amy Tennery in New York; Additional reporting by Gina
Cherelus in New York)
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