After spending seven days in a hospital intensive care unit due to COVID-19, Trump advisor Chris Christie has had a “come to Jesus” moment that puts him on the other side of the public health issue from President Trump.
“I believed that when I entered the White House grounds, that I had entered a safe zone, due to the testing that and I and many others underwent every day. I was wrong. I was wrong to not wear a mask at the Amy Coney Barrett announcement and I was wrong not to wear a mask at my multiple debate prep sessions with the President and the rest of the team,” Christie said in a statement obtained by NBC News.
Christie was one of at least fourteen people who attended the Barrett superspreader event at the Rose Garden who contracted coronavirus. Trump, who was also infected, has continued to mock the virus and downplaying the damage the virus can do.
“No one should be happy to get the virus and no one should be cavalier about being infected or infecting others,” Christie said, addressing the attitude of Trump. “It is something to take very seriously. The ramifications are wildly random and potentially deadly.”
“Every public official, regardless of party or position, should advocate for every American to wear a mask in public, appropriately socially distance and to wash your hands frequently every day,” he said. “At the same time, we should be reopening in every corner of this nation under these guidelines.”