Attempting to distance himself from his sycophantic behavior toward President Obama during Hurricane Sandy and just before the 2012 presidential election – behavior that many observers saw as boosting Obama’s re-election chances – New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie now says he never hugged Obama. “It was a handshake like you would shake hands with anyone. It was a perfectly natural, casual, normal type of greeting between two people. And you know, it’s become legend,” he told Time magazine. Christie continued, “If he deserved to be trashed, I would have, as I had many times before that. But he didn’t deserve it.”

He did not offer an explanation of why he went on a romantic walk along the boardwalk with the President last May, complete with the two competing for stuffed animals.

Ben Shapiro is Editor-At-Large of Breitbart News and author of the New York Times bestseller “Bullies: How the Left’s Culture of Fear and Intimidation Silences America” (Threshold Editions, January 8, 2013). He is also Editor-in-Chief of TruthRevolt.org. Follow Ben Shapiro on Twitter @benshapiro.