Gov. Chris Christie (R., N.J.) criticized President Obama for his poor leadership Saturday at the Florida Republican Party’s Sunshine Summit, using the president’s faults to describe what America needs in its next leader.
Christie spoke of the sadness and outrage felt after the Friday attacks on Paris and said that America needs a strong leader, condemning Obama for his "brazen executive action" and calling him "lawless."
"I will always faithfully execute the laws of the United States, not pick and choose the ones I like and ignore the ones I don’t," he said. "I certainly won’t treat the White House as mini-Congress or do end-runs around the legislative branch."
"My presidency will never look like a lawless imperial presidency like the one we have right now," Christie said.
Christie then said that his policies, unlike the president’s, would be "based on a clear understanding of how the world really works" rather than "naïve assumptions," the sway of "big political donors," or the press.
"He sees the world as he likes to see it—as fantasy," Christie said.
He then pointed to President Obama’s lack of experience upon entering office, warning his audience not to be too lured in by someone who is "new" and "exciting."
"Remember something. This president was new in 2008," he said. "His inexperience has more than doubled the national debt. His inexperience has increased, not decreased, racial tensions in this country."
Christie said that the inexperience of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has also put America at risk.
"The bumbling and inexperienced foreign policy of he and Hillary Rodham Clinton has put America at risk again like it has not been since that day in September of 2001," he said.
He then ran through a list of Obama’s assurances and highlighted their discordance with reality.
"He claimed that our borders were more secure than they’ve ever been. He claimed that after Qaddafi and Mubarak were gone, the Middle East would be safer than it’s ever been. He told us al Qaeda was on the run. He called ISIS the JV," he said. "And just hours, just hours yesterday, before they struck in Paris, he told ABC News that his strategy was containing ISIS."
"All of these statements were a lie."