New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s UK trip, presumably geared toward building him some foreign policy credentials before a possible run for the 2016 GOP nomination, backfired when the American media seized on comments he made regarding vaccination on Monday, according to the Daily Mail.
“[C]overage of the trip has been dominated by remarks he made Monday after touring a pharmaceutical facility, that parents ‘parents need to have some measure of choice’ when it comes to whether to vaccinate their children.
Christie’s office quickly backtracked, releasing a statement that declared that, ‘with a disease like measles there is no question kids should be vaccinated.’
But the comments drew scorn, first across social media, and then from medical professionals, newspaper editorial boards and national Democrats, who accused the governor of ignoring medical science.”
It also seems to have inspired Christie to suddenly cancel three press availabilities. And if that wasn’t bad enough, his handling of it is now likely to generate even more bad press for him. Maybe he can chalk his attitude up to being from New Jersey, but at some point that excuse is bound to wear thin. The Daily Mail continues:
“The Republican governor and likely presidential contender had originally been scheduled to address the press three times during the final day of his three-day trip to the United Kingdom.
Instead, the availabilities vanished from his schedule, which included lunch with the chancellor of the exchequer and a visit to the famous Globe Theatre.
‘Is there something you don’t understand about, “No questions”?’ Christie snapped when a reporter asked whether he’d discussed the Islamic State group during his meetings with dignitaries during the visit to the Globe.”
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