--- title: Chris Christie: Science Cop Takes on 2016 Presidential Candidate description: Christie isn't a doctor, so why is he dishing out advice on vaccines? canonical: https://time.com/3698258/chris-christie-measles-vaccines/ author: Jeffrey Kluger article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-05T12:22:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-30T11:42:24.366Z article:section: Science og:title: Watch the Science Cop Take On Chris Christie on Vaccines og:description: Christie isn't a doctor, so why is he dishing out advice on vaccines? og:url: https://time.com/3698258/chris-christie-measles-vaccines/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8a62e6e170e5579/69877df0cd1bba3b2d6f5144/christie-in-jail.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Chris Christie, jailed by Science Cop og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Watch the Science Cop Take On Chris Christie on Vaccines twitter:description: Christie isn't a doctor, so why is he dishing out advice on vaccines? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8a62e6e170e5579/69877df0cd1bba3b2d6f5144/christie-in-jail.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Watch the Science Cop Take on Chris Christie's Vaccine Talk by [Jeffrey Kluger](https://time.com/author/jeffrey-kluger/) and [Michael Lester](https://time.com/author/michael-lester/) Feb 5, 2015 12:22 PM UTC  New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) ran in to trouble with controversial statements on childhood vaccines. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) ran in to trouble with controversial statements on childhood vaccines.Getty/Composite image by TIME by [Jeffrey Kluger](https://time.com/author/jeffrey-kluger/) and [Michael Lester](https://time.com/author/michael-lester/) Feb 5, 2015 12:22 PM UTC Chris Christie [called for “balance” this week](http://time.com/3693977/2016-presidential-race-measles-chris-christie-rand-paul-hillary-clinton/) between public health and parents’ right to choose when it comes to vaccinating their children, going against the prevailing science. Christie’s office was quick to walk back his comments and say “with a disease like measles there is no question kids should be vaccinated.” But TIME’s Science Cop [Jeffrey Kluger](http://time.com/3692080/christie-vaccines-antivax/) explains why statements like this, and the ongoing decision by many to forego vaccinations, are harming America’s children. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3698258/chris-christie-measles-vaccines/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3698258/chris-christie-measles-vaccines/"},"headline":"Watch the Science Cop Take on Chris Christie's Vaccine Talk","datePublished":"2015-02-05T12:22:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-30T11:42:24.366Z","description":"Christie isn't a doctor, so why is he dishing out advice on vaccines?","url":"https://time.com/3698258/chris-christie-measles-vaccines/","keywords":["Vaccines","Chris Christie","Rand Paul","anti-vaxxers"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8a62e6e170e5579/69877df0cd1bba3b2d6f5144/christie-in-jail.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jeffrey Kluger","jobTitle":"Editor at Large","url":"https://time.com/author/jeffrey-kluger/"},{"@type":"Person","name":"Michael Lester","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/michael-lester/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb8a62e6e170e5579/69877df0cd1bba3b2d6f5144/christie-in-jail.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Chris Christie, jailed by Science Cop","caption":"New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) ran in to trouble with controversial statements on childhood vaccines.","creditText":"Getty/Composite image by TIME","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/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/vaccines/","name":"Vaccines"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3698258/chris-christie-measles-vaccines/","name":"Watch the Science Cop Take on Chris Christie's Vaccine Talk"}}]}] ```