NH Union Leader on Christie endorsement: ‘Boy, were we wrong’

The New Hampshire Union Leader — which made national headlines well beyond its own pages in November when it endorsed New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for president — pulled an about face Tuesday, in clear disgust over Christie's endorsement of Donald Trump.

"Watching Christie kiss the Donald’s ring this weekend — and make excuses for the man Christie himself had said was unfit for the presidency — demonstrated how wrong we were," the Union-Leader wrote Tuesday. "Rather than standing up to the bully, Christie bent his knee. In doing so, he rejected the very principles of his campaign that attracted our support."

The paper credited voters who "apparently knew better than we" for handling Christie a New Hampshire primary loss. And it criticized Christie for contradicting what publisher Joseph W. McQuaid (who authorized both the paper's endorsement and Tuesday's editorial) said was Christie's promise never to endorse Trump. (Christie, for his part, has said he only told McQuaid he wasn't about to endorse anyone immediately after dropping out of the race last month).

Christie, in Monday's edition of "Ask The Governor" in the New Jersey 101.5 studio, said he knew his endorsement of Trump — whom the governor previously said on multiple occasions didn't have the temperament or experience to be president — "would make some people upset."

“When we believe we’re the best person, we aggressively make the best case we can for ourselves and against others. And it doesn’t mean I believe with Donald Trump on every issue, because I don’t," Christie said.

It isn't the only high-profile loss of support Christie's suffered. His campaign finance chair, Meg Whitman, said this weekend the Trump endorsement was an "astonishing display of political opportunism" and has urged donors to reject Trump.