--- title: Chris Christie Tells National Guard Leader to Lose Weight description: Over the years, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has famously struggled to slim his waistline. Now, he's ordering someone else to lose weight. canonical: https://time.com/4046010/chris-christie-weight-national-guard/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-23T12:14:58.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:57:42.792Z article:section: Politics og:title: Chris Christie Tells National Guard Leader to Lose Weight og:description: The military commander had been reprimanded by the Pentagon og:url: https://time.com/4046010/chris-christie-weight-national-guard/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0d6945c38ea795ff/698864f03c16393401459dee/chris-christie.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Chris Christie og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Chris Christie Tells National Guard Leader to Lose Weight twitter:description: The military commander had been reprimanded by the Pentagon twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0d6945c38ea795ff/698864f03c16393401459dee/chris-christie.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Chris Christie Tells National Guard Leader to Lose Weight ## Video: Watch the Republican Debate In Less than 3 Minutes [Watch (HLS stream): Watch the Republican Debate In Less than 3 Minutes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/FZG84mwx.m3u8) (2:44)  _Published 2015-09-17. Watch the top 11 Republican candidates face off during the second GOP debate._  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Sep 23, 2015 12:14 PM UTC  Republican presidential candidate Gov. Chris Christie speaks at the Heritage Foundation Take Back America candidate forum in Greenville, S.C., on Sept. 18, 2015. Republican presidential candidate Gov. Chris Christie speaks at the Heritage Foundation Take Back America candidate forum in Greenville, S.C., on Sept. 18, 2015.Richard Ellis—Corbis  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Sep 23, 2015 12:14 PM UTC New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has famously struggled to slim his waistline over the years. Now, he’s ordering someone else to lose weight. Christie, a 2016 Republican presidential candidate, gave the head of New Jersey’s National Guard, Michael L. Cunniff, 90 days to lose weight and meet the military’s fitness requirements, ABC 7 [reports](http://abc7ny.com/news/christie-orders-nj-national-guard-leader-to-lose-weight/996543/). The Air Force Brigadier General had been previously reprimanded by the Pentagon for his fitness. “The Governor has expressed directly to the General that his failure to meet that standard or to provide notification of his formal reprimand is both unacceptable and disappointing,” Christie spokesperson Kevin Roberts said in a statement. In a statement, Cunniff said that he has entered into a “rigorous physical fitness training program” and has “sought the assistance of a nutritionist.” \[[_ABC 7_](http://abc7ny.com/news/christie-orders-nj-national-guard-leader-to-lose-weight/996543/)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4046010/chris-christie-weight-national-guard/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4046010/chris-christie-weight-national-guard/"},"headline":"Chris Christie Tells National Guard Leader to Lose Weight","datePublished":"2015-09-23T12:14:58.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:57:42.792Z","description":"The military commander had been reprimanded by the Pentagon","url":"https://time.com/4046010/chris-christie-weight-national-guard/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0d6945c38ea795ff/698864f03c16393401459dee/chris-christie.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0d6945c38ea795ff/698864f03c16393401459dee/chris-christie.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Chris Christie","caption":"Chris Christie","creditText":"Richard Ellis—Corbis","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4046010/chris-christie-weight-national-guard/","name":"Chris Christie Tells National Guard Leader to Lose Weight"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch the Republican Debate In Less than 3 Minutes","description":"Watch the top 11 Republican candidates face off during the second GOP debate.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/FZG84mwx/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-09-17T04:16:23.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/FZG84mwx.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4046010/chris-christie-weight-national-guard/","duration":"PT2M44S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4046010/chris-christie-weight-national-guard/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```