We regret to inform you that Chris Christie never fetched McDonald's for Trump after all

Lame-duck New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) was pilloried nationwide during the 2016 presidential election as he was repeatedly demeaned by then-candidate Donald Trump and his aides, most notably when he was apparently sent to fetch Big Macs for the future president. But a Politico story published Friday raises a different possibility: What if those stories were fake news?

Sam Nunberg, a former Trump campaign aide, told Politico that he fabricated the story of Christie fetching McDonald's for Trump because he wanted to humiliate the governor. "The sad reality is that it was believable," Nunberg said.

Christie himself claimed that other gaffes of his have been exaggerated, too. Take his infamous summer trip to the beach, for example — a beach he'd ordered closed to the public over the July 4 weekend during a state budget shutdown, but then used for himself and his friends and family anyway. Christie defended himself, saying he did not regret the shoreline excursion because he'd already told his children that they'd spend the holiday on the beach. He added that he had no way of knowing he was being photographed: "Could you imagine that I could see the long lens? Of course not."

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Christie's various scandals didn't seem to bother President Trump all that much, however, as the mogul reportedly made several overtures to the governor to secure his endorsement during the Republican presidential primary. Although Christie did not address rumors that Trump extended — and then rescinded — an offer for him to be vice president, he did say that Trump offered "two Cabinet positions and three other really senior positions in the administration." "I've turned them all down because they weren't stuff I was interested in," Christie said.

Read the full profile of the outgoing governor at Politico.