When New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was on the PBS Newshour Monday night, he said that he suspected that Steve Bannon's interview with 60 minutes the day before was the former White House chief strategist's "last 15 minutes of fame." The statement could have had a better ring to it if the Governor had simply said "60 minutes of fame", but he then recovered rather quickly by slamming the Breitbart CEO, saying that no one cared about what Bannon had to say, now that he had been fired from the White House.

Bannon vs Christie over cabinet position story

In the 60 Minutes interview, Bannon told a story about Christie, saying that the reason the New Jersey governor did not get a position in the administration last year was because the Governor was not on the plane during "Billy Bush weekend". Bannon was referring to the reports of a recording that caught Trump making lewd statements about sexual assault to interviewer Billy Bush. Bannon said that weekend the reports were a litmus test to see who was loyal to Trump and who was not. The interviewer, Charlie Rose, suggested that Bannon took names of the people who bailed after the reports about the tape.

Bannon said that he put the names in a black book.

He then said that he told Christie that the plane to meet up with the Trump team left at 11 in the morning and if the Governor was on the plane, that he was on the team. Bannon said that the reason Christie eventually did not get a cabinet position was because he wasn't on the flight. Christie was in fact part of the transition team before he was let go, but it was reported at the time that he did not get a position with the White House because he clashed with Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Christie brags about relationship with Trump, dismissive of Bannon

If what Bannon said was true, then his "litmus test" only contributed to Christie's fate. When Judy Woodruff of the Newshour asked Christie about Bannon's details, he denied that Bannon and him ever even talked. He also said that the conversation never happened as he didn't need to express his feelings about the Billy Bush interview to staffers.

Gov. Christie further denied Bannon's claims, saying that he was even there with the team on that "Billy bush weekend" for debate prep. He said that he led all three debate preps when Trump was debating Clinton. He confirmed the reports that he had been offered a cabinet position but that he turned it down.

Governor Christie made comparisons of Bannon's one-year-old relationship with Trump to his own 15-year friendship, saying that he spoke to the Republican nominee directly about the Billy Bush tape when those reports came out. He said that he didn't need to self-aggrandize himself as Bannon had in his interview with Charlie Rose. He also added that he has dealt with "tougher" characters in the past than Bannon who he said is lying about him.

Gov. Christie also said that while he was meeting with the President in recent weeks, Steve Bannon was doing an interview with 60 Minutes as a way for the Governor to say that he was where it counted, at the White House. While Christie has said that the Breitbart executive is no longer relevant since he's no longer in the White House, it has been reported that Trump has contacted Bannon when his chief of staff who fired him, Gen. John Kelly, was not around, for advice.
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