Read Chris Christie’s Convention Speech Attacking Hillary Clinton

10 minute read

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie tore into Hillary Clinton in his speech at the Republican National Convention on Tuesday, criticizing her work as secretary of state and calling on the audience, “a jury of her peers,” to “hold Hillary Rodham Clinton accountable for her performance and her character.”‘

“We can not reward incompetence and deceit,” he said. “We need to demand more than what Hillary Clinton offers for America.”

Here’s what he said in his speech at Cleveland’s Quicken Loans Arena:

CHRISTIE: Good evening. Good evening.

I am here tonight not only as the governor of New Jersey, but also as Donald trump’s friend for the last 14 years. We are about to be led by not only a strong leader but by a caring, genuine, and decent person.

CHRISTIE: I’m proud to say that the voice of the people of our nation is being heard in this hall tonight and those voices want Donald Trump to be the next President of the United States.

(APPLAUSE)

But everybody, this election is not just about Donald Trump. No, It’s also about his Democratic opponent, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Now, in the past few weeks, we’ve seen the Justice Department refuse to prosecute her. Over the last eight years, we’ve seen this administration refuse to hold her accountable for her dismal record as Secretary of State. So, let’s do something fun tonight. Tonight, as a former Federal Prosecutor, I welcome the opportunity to hold Hillary Rodham Clinton accountable for her performance and her character.

(APPLAUSE)

Now…

(APPLAUSE)

All right, all right, we’re getting there. Give me a few more minutes, we’ll get there.

(LAUGHTER)

Here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to present the facts to you. You, tonight, sitting as a jury of her peers, both in this hall and in your living rooms, around our nation. You see, since the Justice Department refuses to allow you to render a verdict, I’m going to present the case now, on the facts, against Hillary Rodham Clinton.

(APPLAUSE)

Now, she was America’s Chief Diplomat. So, let’s look around the world at the violence and the danger, today, in every region that has been infected by her flawed judgment. But, I’m going to be specific so that you can render your verdict tonight on the basis of facts.

Let’s go to North Africa. She was the Chief Engineer of the disaster overthrow of Gadhafi in Libya. Libya today, after Hillary Clinton’s grand strategy, their economies in ruins, there’s death and violence in the streets, and ISIS is now dominating that country. So, I’m going to ask you this. Hillary Clinton, as a failure for ruining Libya and creating a nest for terrorist activity for ISIS, answer me now, is she guilty or not guilty?

AUDIENCE: Guilty.

CHRISTIE: In Nigeria, Hillary Clinton amazingly fought for two years to keep an Al Qaida affiliate off of the terrorist watch list. Now, what happens because of this reckless action by the candidate who is the self-proclaimed champion of women all around the world. These Al Qaida terrorists abducted hundreds of innocent young women two years ago. These school girls are still missing today. And what was the solution from the Obama-Clinton team? A hashtag campaign.

So, now let’s figure it out. Let’s decide. Hillary Clinton, as an apologist for an Al Qaida affiliate in Nigeria, resulting in the capture of innocent young women, is she guilty or not guilty?

AUDIENCE: Guilty.

CHRISTIE: See, she fights for the wrong people. She never fights for us. She doesn’t get the real threats that America faces.

So, now let’s go to China. In China, Hillary Clinton praised the Chinese government for buying our debt to finance Barack Obama’s bloated stimulus plan. She was so desperate for Chinese cash, she promised to oppose the buy American provision in the stimulus bill in exchange for the cash to finance a huge expansion of federal government spending.

So, Hillary Clinton, putting big government spending financed by the Chinese ahead of good paying jobs for middle class Americans, is she guilty or not guilty?

AUDIENCE: Guilty.

CHRISTIE: Let’s go to Syria. In Syria, imagine this. Imagine this. She called President Assad a reformer. She called Assad a different kind of leader. There’s now 400,000 dead. Think about that. Four-hundred thousand dead. At the hands of the man that Hillary defended.

So, we must ask this question. Hillary Clinton, as an awful judge of the character of a dictator and butcher in the middle east. Is she guilty or not guilty?

AUDIENCE: Guilty.

CHRISTIE: Next, next in Iran. She launched a negotiations that brought about the worst nuclear deal in history. Let me be clear. America and the world are measurably less safe unless respected because of the Iran deal that Hillary helped cut. Period. After she launched those negotiations, she became the biggest cheerleader for this agreement in the end. It’s a deal that will lead to a nuclear Iran. An Israel that will be less safe and secure. And a much more dangerous Middle East.

So, let’s ask it. Hillary Clinton, as an inept negotiator of the worst nuclear arms deal in American history, is she guilty or not guilty?

AUDIENCE: Guilty.

CHRISTIE: Next, Next. Oh believe me, we’re not done yet. The indictment is hardly complete.

(APPLAUSE)

Next, let’s go to Russia. She went to the Kremlin on her very first visit, and gave them that stupid, symbolic reset button. You know what I think that button should have read? It should have read, delete. You know, she’s very good at that, by the way.

(APPLAUSE)

And it should have read delete because, she deleted, in four years, the safety and security it took us to build in 40 years. The next year, she said our goal, America’s goal was to strengthen Russia. Strengthen an adversary led by a dictator who dreams of reassembling the old Soviet empire. What an extraordinarily dangerous lack of judgment.

So, once again, we need to ask, as a flawed evaluator of dictators that failed strategists, who has permitted Russia back in as a major player in the Middle East, is Hillary Clinton guilty or not guilty?

AUDIENCE: Guilty.

CHRISTIE: Now, now, we go to Cuba. Hillary Clinton supported concessions to the Castro brothers, and got almost nothing in return for ending the embargo. She supported a deal that didn’t even require this murderous regime to return a cop killer, JoAnne Chesimard to face justice. See, I know about this personally. JoAnne Chesimard murdered a New Jersey state trooper in cold blood, fled to Cuba, and lives there under Cuban protection to this very day.

I want to ask you. How can someone live with their own conscious when you reward a domestic terrorist with continued safety and at the same time betray the family of a fallen police officer, waiting for decades for justice for his murder? So let’s ask the question. Hillary Clinton, as a coddler of the brutal Castro brothers and betrayer of the family of fall state trooper, Werner Foerster and his family. Is she guilty or not guilty?

AUDIENCE: Guilty.

CHRISTIE: Now, finally. Finally, here at home in one of her first decisions as Secretary of State. She set up a private e-mail server in her basement in violation of our national security. Let’s face the facts. Hillary Clinton cared more about protecting her own secrets than she cared about protecting America’s secrets.

(APPLAUSE)

And then, she lied about it, over, and over, and over again. She said, there was no marked classified information on her server. The FBI director said, that’s untrue. She said that she did not e-mail any classified information. The FBI Director says, that’s untrue. She said, all work-related e-mails were sent back to the State Department. The FBI Director said, that’s not true.

So, I say, Hillary Clinton, the charge of putting herself ahead of America, guilty or not guilty?

AUDIENCE: Guilty.

CHRISTIE: I got another question for you. I got another question for you. I say, Hillary Clinton, lying to the American people about her selfish, awful judgment in making our secrets vulnerable. What’s your verdict, guilty or not guilty?

AUDIENCE: Guilty.

CHRISTIE: Now, time, time after time after time. The facts and just the facts lead you to the same verdict. Both around the world and here at home. In Libya, in Nigeria, Guilty. In China and Syria.

AUDIENCE: Guilty.

CHRISTIE: In Iran and Russia and Cuba.

AUDIENCE: Guilty.

CHRISTIE: And here at home, for risking America’s secrets to keep her own and lying to cover it all up?

AUDIENCE: Guilty.

CHRISTIE: Her focus group tested persona with no genuineness to be found, is a shame. Meant to obscure all the facts and leave you able to vote for her. We cannot promote someone to Commander in Chief who is made the world a more violent and dangerous place with every bad judgment she’s made. We cannot make the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the United States, someone who has risked America’s secrets and lied to the American people about it, day after day after day.

Here it is everybody. We didn’t disqualify Hillary Clinton to be President of the United States, the facts of her life and career disqualify her.

(APPLAUSE)

See, I can tell that everybody in this hall agrees with this. But, I want to take our last moments here to talk to all of you at home. In your living rooms, sitting there tonight. You’re the one’s who will decide this election. We have an alternative. We have a man who is unafraid. We have a man who wants to lead us. We have a man who understands the frustrations and the aspirations of our fellow citizens. We have a man who judges people based on their performance, regardless of your gender, your race, your ethnic or religious background. I implore you. We do not need to settle for less in this election. We can not reward incompetence and deceit. We need to demand more than what Hillary Clinton offers for America. Because see, we know exactly what four years of Hillary Clinton will bring. All the failures of the Obama years, but with less charm and more lies.

(APPLAUSE)

Tonight, those of us in this hall and the people at home. It is our obligation to stop Hillary Clinton now and never let her get within ten miles of the White House again.

(APPLAUSE)

It is time to come together and make sure that Donald Trump is the next President of the United States.

(APPLAUSE)

I am proud to be part of this team. Now let’s go out and win this thing together. Let’s go get them.

Good night.

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Write to Katie Reilly at Katie.Reilly@time.com