“I am who I am, but I am not a bully.” Those were some of the 19,000 words New Jersey Governor Chris Christie uttered in his 1 hour and 48 minute press conference last Thursday. Using some variation of “apology” 34 times, Christie did everything in his power to convince us all that he was not to blame for the incident now being called ‘Bridgegate.’

Known for his hard-nosed attitude and unapologetic style, Christie immediately fired the people responsible, but still risks looking like a man who goes out of his way to punish anyone who opposes him. The incident was retaliatory in nature and if he did know about it, Christie undoubtedly is the bully he denies to be.

There are two conclusions to be drawn from Christie’s defense and neither is particularly attractive: 1.) He knew the entire time and is now lying to cover his tracks, or 2.) He didn’t know and three of his own employees acted against his wishes right under his nose.

If the first conclusion is true, Christie is a bully who will make sure you pay if you stand in his way. If it’s the latter, then it seems he had no idea what kind of people he hired. Either way, the incident paints Christie as an inept manager at best or an abuser of power at worst: not exactly presidential qualities. What’s more, those sound an awful lot like things Republicans love to criticize President Barack Obama for.

The incident took place on Sept. 9, 2013. Two lanes of the George Washington Bridge, which runs from Fort Lee, N.J. to New York City, were closed for what was said to be a traffic study. While this hardly sounds like the makings of a scandal, the effect of the closure had a much greater magnitude than one might expect.

The George Washington Bridge sees more traffic than almost any other bridge in the country and the closure resulted in extraordinary gridlock for four straight days. One particularly publicized story details how an elderly woman passed away from cardiac arrest while emergency responders were stuck in traffic.

During Christie’s successful reelection campaign last fall, Fort Lee’s mayor declined to endorse him. It was recently revealed that after the snub, Christie’s deputy chief of staff, Bridget Kelly, sent an email to an official of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (who controls the bridge in question) containing the following message: “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.” The recipient of this email, David Wildstein, was appointed by Christie himself, who Wildstein has known since high school. He simply replied: “Got it.”

Wildstein then ordered the closure, and the aforementioned gridlock ensued. Further emails between Kelly, Wildstein and Christie’s campaign manager Bill Stepien displayed unabashed joy from the mess they had caused. Eventually, another Port Authority official discovered Wildstein’s order and reversed it, but the damage was already done. Christie spent weeks denying any political motivation behind the closure, right up until the email threads were exposed.

So where does this leave Christie, who is regarded as one of the strongest Republicans looking to run for president in 2016? Many people say in deep trouble. Coming off a sterling 2013, Christie was poised to solidify himself as a potential champion of the GOP. Instead, he began 2014 by telling everyone again and again that he had no knowledge of his employees’ ulterior motives.

Either he manages his staff with complete ineptitude and lack of awareness, or he is a blatant liar. Whichever one is true, neither characteristic seems remotely presidential.

Chris Piemonte is a senior political philosophy major. He can be reached at [email protected].

Published on January 14, 2014 at 1:51 am