Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie admitted that his hot-mic comments about Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley last month were a “complete mistake,” but said no apology is needed.
Mr. Christie, just before his speech that announced he was dropping out of the race for the GOP nomination last month, was caught saying that Ms. Haley was “gonna get smoked” and was “not up to this.”
“It was a complete mistake,” Mr. Christie said Tuesday on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
“It’s one of those moments I wish, quite frankly, hadn’t happened, just ‘cause it was a distraction. But on the other hand, I didn’t say anything on the hot mic that I didn’t essentially say in the speech that I gave about 10 minutes later,” he said.
Mr. Christie said it was his son, Andrew, who called him from the Dominican Republic, and let him know he was caught on the mic.
The former presidential candidate admitted that Ms. Haley called him the next day, but he didn’t apologize.
“It was a 45-second. She told me, ‘I know it’s a personal decision to get in a race, and it’s a tough decision to get out. I heard everything you said last night, including the hot mic.’ And I said, ‘Uh-huh.’ And she said, ‘Well, good luck.’ And I said, ‘Good luck to you.’” Mr. Christie said.
Asked if he would ever apologize, Mr. Christie said, “No, there’s no apology warranted.”