--- title: Christie Mocks Kasich and Bush in New Hampshire description: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie mocked rivals John Kasich and Jeb Bush for their professed positivity on the campaign trail. canonical: https://time.com/4211190/christie-bush-kasich-republican-new-hampshire/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-07T19:02:15.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T14:50:57.116Z article:section: Politics og:title: Christie Mocks Kasich and Bush in New Hampshire og:description: Chris Christie made fun of their sunny outlook og:url: https://time.com/4211190/christie-bush-kasich-republican-new-hampshire/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt55e33de1876fa2a4/69887c885f570f27c6b1f8b7/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 Holds Town Hall At Timberland In New Hampshire og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Christie Mocks Kasich and Bush in New Hampshire twitter:description: Chris Christie made fun of their sunny outlook twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt55e33de1876fa2a4/69887c885f570f27c6b1f8b7/chris-christie.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Christie Draws Contrast With Kasich and Bush in New Hampshire by [Zeke J Miller / Bedford, N.H.](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke J Miller / Bedford, N.H. Feb 7, 2016 7:02 PM UTC  Chris Christie talks to reporters following a campaign town hall event on Feb. 5, 2016 in Stratham, NH. Chris Christie talks to reporters following a campaign town hall event on Feb. 5, 2016 in Stratham, NH.Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [Zeke J Miller / Bedford, N.H.](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke J Miller / Bedford, N.H. Feb 7, 2016 7:02 PM UTC Fresh off [pointing out Marco Rubio’s repetitive answers in Saturday’s debate](http://time.com/4210991/marco-rubio-gop-debate-new-hampshire/), New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is mocking rivals John Kasich and Jeb Bush for their professed positivity on the campaign trail. Speaking to voters in Hampton, N.H. Sunday, Christie was asked how he differentiates himself from the governors, and argued that he’s faced more scrutiny than the pair of presidential aspirants. Crediting them with successful stewardship of their states, Christie maintained that only he had to fight for his accomplishments. “I’ve known Kasich for a long time. I can tell you his fellow governors call him lots of things, the prince of sunshine and light is not one of them,” Christie quipped, referencing Kasich’s famously prickly personality that rivals his own. “That’s okay, John is in the midst of reforming himself and reinventing himself.” Christie is trailing the other two governors in New Hampshire, where he needs to outperform both in order to move his campaign to South Carolina. Noting that Kasich had a Republican legislature, where he has Democratic majorities, Christie added that Kasich had also spent far more time in Washington as a congressman than as a governor, calling Kasich “a creature of that culture” in Washington. “You want somebody who is a pure executive who has the fight,” he said. “With all due respect, to I think it’s the Columbus _Journal_ it ain’t the New York _Times_,” Christie added, referring incorrectly to the Columbus _Dispatch_. Pivoting to Bush, Christie argued for the need for someone tough to challenge likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. “Go to Jeb today, ask him how the joy is going,” Christie said. “You’ve got to be tough, and when Hillary Clinton is on that stage, you need someone who is every bit as tough and tested as her.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4211190/christie-bush-kasich-republican-new-hampshire/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4211190/christie-bush-kasich-republican-new-hampshire/"},"headline":"Christie Draws Contrast With Kasich and Bush in New Hampshire","datePublished":"2016-02-07T19:02:15.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:50:57.116Z","description":"He made fun of their sunny outlook","url":"https://time.com/4211190/christie-bush-kasich-republican-new-hampshire/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt55e33de1876fa2a4/69887c885f570f27c6b1f8b7/chris-christie.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke J Miller / Bedford, N.H."}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt55e33de1876fa2a4/69887c885f570f27c6b1f8b7/chris-christie.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Chris Christie Holds Town Hall At Timberland In New Hampshire","caption":"Chris Christie Holds Town Hall At Timberland In New Hampshire","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—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/4211190/christie-bush-kasich-republican-new-hampshire/","name":"Christie Draws Contrast With Kasich and Bush in New Hampshire"}}]}] ```