--- title: Jimmy Fallon: Chris Christie Explains HIs 'Hostage' Face description: Chris Christie again defended the now-infamous look he had on his face when he appeared beside Donald Trump on Super Tuesday canonical: https://time.com/4279829/chris-christie-donald-trump-jimmy-fallon-facial-expression/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-02T13:22:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:46:18.248Z article:section: Politics og:title: Chris Christie Explains HIs Awkward 'Hostage' Face on Jimmy Fallon og:description: "This is what you would look like if you were standing behind Jay Leno" og:url: https://time.com/4279829/chris-christie-donald-trump-jimmy-fallon-facial-expression/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta7b0d14bf2642dee/69888d74524fc03e7fdf76a3/chris-christie-jimmy-fallon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon - Season 3 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Chris Christie Explains HIs Awkward 'Hostage' Face on Jimmy Fallon twitter:description: "This is what you would look like if you were standing behind Jay Leno" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta7b0d14bf2642dee/69888d74524fc03e7fdf76a3/chris-christie-jimmy-fallon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch Chris Christie Explain His Awkward 'Hostage' Face on Jimmy Fallon > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=d969a5be-ed3b-4d04-90d0-9b6e238426a1&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1)  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Apr 2, 2016 1:22 PM UTC  Gov. Chris Christie speaks to Jimmy Fallon during an interview on April 1. Gov. Chris Christie speaks to Jimmy Fallon during an interview on April 1. Andrew Lipovsky—NBC/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Apr 2, 2016 1:22 PM UTC Chris Christie again defended the [now-infamous look he had on his face](http://time.com/4244464/chris-christie-vine-super-tuesday-trump/) when he appeared beside Republican frontrunner Donald Trump on Super Tuesday. Christie was asked about the incident during a Friday appearance on _The Tonight Show_ with Jimmy Fallon, who has [previously poked fun](http://time.com/4246261/jimmy-fallon-donald-trump-chris-christie-super-tuesday/) at the Christie-Trump press conference. “You look like you were having a blast. Look how much,” Fallon said, showing the photo. “Were you being held hostage at this time?” “This is what you would look like if you were standing behind Jay Leno when he was doing his monologue,” Christie said. “If you’re used to talking, it’s awkward not to talk, so if you’re standing there, I’m listening.” Fallon brought out cardboard cutouts of himself and Christie wearing similarly [troubled and uncomfortable facial expressions](http://time.com/4244162/chris-christie-twitter-trump-super-tuesday/). Christie, who has been campaigning with Trump, defended his endorsement, saying he thinks the real estate mogul is a better candidate than Texas Sen. Ted Cruz or Ohio Gov. John Kasich. Asked if he would consider a spot on the Republican ticket, the New Jersey governor said he didn’t believe anyone would ask him to be Vice President. “Well, because of that,” Christie said, pointing to his Super Tuesday facial expression. “When you’re Vice President, that’s basically what you do, right?” he said. “I’ve got to get better at it than that, obviously.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4279829/chris-christie-donald-trump-jimmy-fallon-facial-expression/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4279829/chris-christie-donald-trump-jimmy-fallon-facial-expression/"},"headline":"Watch Chris Christie Explain His Awkward 'Hostage' Face on Jimmy Fallon","datePublished":"2016-04-02T13:22:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:46:18.248Z","description":"\"This is what you would look like if you were standing behind Jay Leno\"","url":"https://time.com/4279829/chris-christie-donald-trump-jimmy-fallon-facial-expression/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta7b0d14bf2642dee/69888d74524fc03e7fdf76a3/chris-christie-jimmy-fallon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta7b0d14bf2642dee/69888d74524fc03e7fdf76a3/chris-christie-jimmy-fallon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon - Season 3","caption":"The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon - Season 3","creditText":"Andrew Lipovsky—NBC/Getty Images","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/4279829/chris-christie-donald-trump-jimmy-fallon-facial-expression/","name":"Watch Chris Christie Explain His Awkward 'Hostage' Face on Jimmy Fallon"}}]}] ```