Wisconsin Gov. Scott WalkerCourtney Clip/ZUMA
It’s not just the Republican Party’s biggest donors rallying behind Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in the run-up to his June 5 recall election.
On Tuesday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie swooped in to the Badger State to campaign alongside Walker, calling the embattled governor “courageous” and a principled flag-bearer for the conservative movement, according to Politico. Christie told attendees at a rally in the city of Oak Park to “do the right thing” by re-electing Walker.
“Do you stand behind courageous leaders who stand for their principles or do you walk away from them? Wisconsin’s going to answer that question for America,” Christie said. “And when you answer that question the right way and you keep Scott Walker in the state house in Madison, believe me—it’s going to change America, everybody.”
Christie cast Walker’s recall as a battle pitting “the people” against “the money [and] special interests from Washington, DC.” In Christie’s telling, those out-of-state special interests are labor unions, which are spending millions to defeat Walker. The irony, of course, is that Walker has for months flown around the country raking in money for his recall war chest from some of the wealthiest donors in America. Since January he’s raised $13.2 million, two-thirds of which came from out-of-state donors. Walker’s top donors include Houston-based homebuilding tycoon Bob Perry, who’s given $500,000, and Las Vegas casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who’s given $250,000.
Christie and the labor unions do agree on one thing: a lot is at stake in Walker’s recall fight. A win for Walker would seem to validate his anti-union, deregulatory agenda; a loss would deal him a stunning rebuke, a rejection of the hard-line conservative policies peddled by Walker and fellow GOP governors including Christie, Michigan’s Rick Snyder, and Florida’s Rick Scott. From now until recall time, Christie said, “Wisconsin is going to be the center of the American political universe.”
Here’s the video of Christie’s appearance, via Politico:
