Christie hits Haley on abortion

Nov. 30—CONCORD — Republican presidential candidate and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie kicked off his latest New Hampshire tour attacking GOP rival Nikki Haley for having endorsed a federal six-week ban on abortions while campaigning in Iowa.

Christie, a former New Jersey governor, said until those remarks he had thought that Haley, a former South Carolina governor, agreed with him that this policy should be decided by individual states.

"Well hell, man, I have seen her in New Hampshire a number of times and she has said she doesn't want to use this issue to divide the country anymore," Christie said during a town hall forum at the State Employees Association (SEA) headquarters here.

"Then, before a very conservative audience and a very conservative activist, she tells that guy what he wants to hear. The key to restoring our country to love each other and a sense of calm and resolve is for politicians to tell the truth."

Christie said he's as "pro-life" on a personal level than any of his competitors, but that he agreed with the Supreme Court's landmark Dobbs decision which overturned Roe v. Wade that had made abortions legal across the country until the fetus reaches viability.

"I believe you in New Hampshire should be able to decide what should be done on that issue," Christie said.

"The federal government should not have anything to do with this."

Haley's campaign has yet to respond to Christie's criticism about her position.

On Thursday, Christie became the first Republican White House hopeful in recent memory to speak before the SEA, the largest union of government employees in the nation.

"We need to hear what the labor platforms are for these Republican presidential candidates. You go to their events or to their websites and you don't find much," said Ralph Mecheau, the union's political education committee.

Calls for raising Social Security retirement age

Christie handled a half-dozen questions on energy, health care, workforce, childcare and labor disputes.

At the close, Christie urged voters "not to believe the polls," which show him and the other GOP hopefuls far behind former President Donald Trump.

"You are the political wine tasters of America," Christie said. "Decide who you want to be president and then vote for that person."

Christie also claimed he was the one candidate that Trump does not want to face, one on one.

"Guys from New Jersey have had to deal with obnoxious people from New York our whole lives," Christie said.

Bruce Vanlandingham is a registered independent who works in the mechanical services division at the Department of Transportation.

"I like all that he had to say and especially his remarks about addiction and the need to consider and treat it as a disease," Vanlandingham said.

Linda Lassonde, also an independent voter, works for the state Office of Information Technology on the Medicaid program.

"I came to this event as a Christie hopeful supporter and left as one. This is the first time I have seen him in person and he came off very nicely," Lassonde said.

"We need someone who is a centrist that can bring about bipartisan solutions and to me he strikes me as the only one on the Republican side who can get it done."

With a little less than eight weeks to go, Christie, who ran for president in 2016, said he would be campaigning in New Hampshire more than anyone else leading up to the Jan. 23 primary.

"This is the time when folks in New Hampshire really start to focus. We are getting out of the shopping phase and getting into the buying phase when it comes to candidates," Christie said.

On other issues Thursday, Christie said he would support raising the retirement age by "three years or so" for those in their 30s or younger and means benefits to make Social Security solvent for generations.

The biggest change that would lower health care costs would be to get rid of pharmacy benefit managers, the middlemen in the system, Christie said.

"I would get rid of them; there is no reason to have them," Christie said. "Guess who owns them now? The insurance companies."

klandrigan@unionleader.com