Chris Christie: Trump's focus on election fraud claims 'certainly didn't help' GOP in Georgia

Is President Trump to blame for the GOP's disappointing showing in the Georgia Senate runoffs? His focus on baseless election fraud claims "certainly didn't help," former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) says.

Christie spoke on Wednesday morning with SiriusXM's Julie Mason about what he described as a "very disappointing" night for Republicans in the Georgia Senate runoffs, as Democrat Raphael Warnock was projected to defeat Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.), while Democrat Jon Ossoff leads Republican David Perdue in a race that hasn't been called.

Asked whether Trump was to blame for the result, Christie noted that "when you're the head of the party, when you win, you get credit, and when you lose, you get blame." He added that Trump spending the past two months largely focused on his false claims that the presidential election was stolen from him was a factor.

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"The kind of singular focus of the president since Election Day, not on COVID vaccination distribution, not on the Georgia Senate races, but on his continued claims, without any basis in fact, of widespread election fraud in the country, certainly didn't help motivate Republican voters in Georgia, and certainly appears to have motivated Democratic voters," Christie said.

Christie, who said he last spoke with Trump about three weeks ago, also predicted that Trump will never concede the presidential election because he's not "capable of admitting that he lost," and he dismissed Trump's attempt to pressure Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the results despite his lack of authority to do so.

"Only someone who has no understanding of the law at all would think there's any pressure on Mike Pence," Christie said.