Gov. Chris Christie (R., N.J.) said during Thursday night's GOP debate that the American people have rejected President Obama's agenda by overturning the Democratic majorities in Congress and state governments that the president enjoyed when he assumed office.
"The American people have rejected your agenda and now you're trying to go around it," Christie said.
Christie noted that since Obama was elected, the Congress has switched from Democratic to Republican control in both houses and that a majority of the governorships are now under Republican leadership.
"Mr. President, we're not against you; we're against your policies. When you became president, you had a Democratic Congress and a filibuster-proof Democratic Senate. You had only 21 Republican governors in this country, and now after seven years of your policies, we have the biggest majority since the 1920s in the house, a Republican majority in the Senate, and 31 out of 50 Republican governors," Christie said.
The New Jersey governor also criticized Obama for his executive actions that bypass Congress.
Moderator Neil Cavuto noted Christie has criticized President Obama's recent executive action on gun control and asked the governor if his "own position on guns evolved."
"The New Jersey Star-Ledger said you signed several laws to regulate the possession of firearms and argued back in August of 2013, and I quote, ‘the commonsense measures will strengthen New Jersey's tough gun laws.’ Isn't that kind of what the president wants to do now?"
"No, absolutely not," Christie replied. "The president wants to do things without working with his Congress, without working with the legislature, without getting the consent of the American people. And the fact is that's not a democracy, that's a dictatorship. And we need to be very, very concerned about that.
"See here's the thing: I don't think the founders put the Second Amendment as No. 2 by accident. I don't think they dropped all the amendments into a hat and picked them out of a hat. They made the Second Amendment the Second Amendment because it is that important. In fact, in New Jersey, we made it easier to get a conceal and carry permit. We made it easier, not harder. And the way we've done it is properly through regulatory action, not signing unconstitutional executive orders."
Christie then called Obama a "petulant child."
He finished his answer by promising to kick the president's "rear end out of the White House come this fall."