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Christie to Republicans avoiding town halls: Do your job

By Allen Cone
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie arrives for a meeting with Donald Trump during the presidential transition at the clubhouse of Trump International Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. on November 20. On Sunday, Christie said on CNN that Trump's staff in the White House is undergoing a "learning curve" because "these are all people who have never been in government before." Pool photo by Peter Foley/UPI
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie arrives for a meeting with Donald Trump during the presidential transition at the clubhouse of Trump International Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. on November 20. On Sunday, Christie said on CNN that Trump's staff in the White House is undergoing a "learning curve" because "these are all people who have never been in government before." Pool photo by Peter Foley/UPI | License Photo

Feb. 26 (UPI) -- New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie bluntly criticized his fellow Republicans for avoiding town halls even though their congressional constituents are hostile.

"Welcome to the real world of responsibility," Christie told CNN's Jake Tapper on State of the Union Sunday.

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Christie, who campaigned for Donald Trump after ending his own campaign for president, made the comments after massive crowds showed up at GOP town halls last week to protest Trump and Republican's plans to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. Some legislators have refused to appear at town halls.

"I understand why members of Congress don't like it," Christie said. "But you know what? You asked for the job. Go do it."

Christie said he has hosted more than 160 town halls during his seven years as governor of New Jersey.

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"This happens on both sides of the aisle. The fact is that right now, the heat is on the Republicans. It's on us," he told Tapper. "And I said this at a meeting with the governors yesterday, that we asked for authority to change the country. We now have two-thirds of the statehouses in America, we have the House, we have the Senate and we have the White House.

"It's now on us to produce results, and one of the things that we need to do is engage with the public."

Trump posted on Twitter last week that "the so-called angry crowds in home districts of some Republicans are actually, in numerous cases, planned out by liberal activists. Sad!"

Christie, who initially ran Trump's transition team, said some attendees are "professional protesters." He defined them as wearing the same shirts and carrying pre-made signs. He noted they were similar to the teachers' union that criticized him in New Jersey.

"You've got to work through that," he said. "You've got to stand up, let them yell themselves out."

Also during the interview, Christie said he doesn't believe a special prosecutor should investigate allegations about Trump's relationship with Russia.

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"The Justice Department over the course of time has shown itself with the professionals that are there to have the ability to investigate these type of things," Christie said. "This is whether you're a Republican or a Democrat, we've seen it happen on both sides, when a special prosecutor gets involved, the thing gets completely out of control. And I think that doesn't serve anybody's purposes."

Because of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions' involvement with the Trump campaign, Democrats want independent investigation. The president's campaign aides allegedly were in contact with the Russian government before the election and tried to influence the election by hacking into Democratic National Committee computer servers.

Christie also suggested that White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus made a mistake by speaking with the FBI to request that the bureau deny those reports to the media. The governor said Priebus had good intentions but it didn't look right.

"These are all people who have never been in government before," he said. "And so they're going to need to learn these things. And I don't think you get the learning curve just by winning the election. You develop experiences over time which tell you that. I can guarantee this: I don't think the chief of staff will ever have that kind of conversation with the FBI, with an FBI personnel again, nor should he."

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