One week after New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's talk about drug addiction went viral on Facebook, garnering more than 6.5 million views and nearly 90,000 shares as of Friday morning, the Republican presidential candidate says he's floored by the response to the video.
In the clip, Christie makes an emotional plea for drug addiction rehabilitation while speaking at a New Hampshire town hall, sharing moving personal stories about his mother's cigarette addiction and a former heroin addict whom he gave an internship to when he was U.S. attorney. "Somehow, if it's heroin or cocaine or alcohol, we say, 'They decided it, they're getting what they deserved,'" Christie said.
Now, one week later, Christie says that the clip's viral success makes an important point:
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"I'm completely shocked by the reaction to that video," he said. "We were driving here this morning from the hotel. It is now up to 6.4 million hits. When I went to bed last night, at 11:30, it was 6 million. So, between 11:30 eastern time last night and 8 o'clock eastern time this morning, another 400,000 people watched that video. The fact is that that tells you more than any poll. It tells you more than any focus group. The American people are concerned about their husbands, their wives, their brothers, their sisters, their sons and their daughters. And we've gotta do everything we can to stop the killing and the value of life in our country." [Washington Examiner]
After months of polling poorly and struggling to gain center stage in a very full Republican race, could Christie finally be having his moment?
Watch his full speech below. Becca Stanek
// scayt-misspell-word" scayt-misspell-word" data-scayt-word="data-scayt-word" data-scayt-lang="en_US">data-scayt-word="CDATA" scayt-misspell-word" data-scayt-word="data-scayt-lang" data-scayt-lang="en_US">data-scayt-lang="en_US">CDATA[(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#scayt-misspell-word" data-scayt-word="scayt-misspell-word" data-scayt-lang="en_US">scayt-misspell-word" scayt-misspell-word" data-scayt-word="data-scayt-word" data-scayt-lang="en_US">data-scayt-word="xfbml" scayt-misspell-word" data-scayt-word="data-scayt-lang" data-scayt-lang="en_US">data-scayt-lang="en_US">xfbml=1&version=v2.3"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);}(document, 'script', 'scayt-misspell-word" data-scayt-word="scayt-misspell-word" data-scayt-lang="en_US">scayt-misspell-word" scayt-misspell-word" data-scayt-word="data-scayt-word" data-scayt-lang="en_US">data-scayt-word="facebook-jssdk" scayt-misspell-word" data-scayt-word="data-scayt-lang" data-scayt-lang="en_US">data-scayt-lang="en_US">facebook-jssdk'));// ]]>
Chris Christie Makes Emotional Plea To Rethink Drug Addiction ..."Somehow, if it's heroin or cocaine or alcohol, we say, 'They decided it, they're getting what they deserved.'"(Read more here: http://huff.to/1LQg27g)Posted by HuffPost Politics on Friday, October 30, 2015
-
5 sleeper hit cartoons about Sleepy DonCartoon Artists take on cabinet meetings, a sleepy agenda, and more
-
Political cartoons for December 6Cartoons Saturday’s political cartoons include a pardon for Hernandez, word of the year, and more
-
Pakistan: Trump’s ‘favourite field marshal’ takes chargeIn the Spotlight Asim Munir’s control over all three branches of Pakistan’s military gives him ‘sweeping powers’ – and almost unlimited freedom to use them
-
Trump tightens restrictions for work visasSpeed Read The length of work permits for asylum seekers and refugees has been shortened from five years to 18 months
-
Supreme Court revives Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read Texas Republicans can use the congressional map they approved in August at President Donald Trump’s behest
-
Boat strike footage rattles some lawmakersSpeed Read ‘Disturbing’ footage of the Sept. 2 attack on an alleged drug-trafficking boat also shows the second strike that killed two survivors who were clinging to the wreckage
-
Trump boosts gas cars in fuel economy rollbackspeed read Watering down fuel efficiency standards is another blow to former President Biden’s effort to boost electric vehicles
-
Hegseth’s Signal chat put troops in peril, probe findsSpeed Read The defense secretary risked the lives of military personnel and violated Pentagon rules, says new report
-
Trump pardons Texas Democratic congressmanspeed read Rep. Henry Cuellar was charged with accepting foreign bribes tied to Azerbaijan and Mexico
-
GOP wins tight House race in red Tennessee districtSpeed Read Republicans maintained their advantage in the House
-
Trump targets ‘garbage’ Somalis ahead of ICE raidsSpeed Read The Department of Homeland Security will launch an immigration operation targeting Somali immigrants in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area
