David Wildstein works today as the editor of the wildly successful New Jersey Globe, but he’s best known to many as a central figure in the 2013 “Bridgegate” scandal which, like an anchor, remained tightly wrapped around the chubby ankles of Chris Christie’s 2016 presidential campaign.
After pleading guilty in 2015 for his role in the Fort Lee lane closures (and receiving three years of probation), the U.S. Attorney moved to dismiss his guilty plea following a Supreme Court ruling that tossed the convictions of his alleged co-conspirators, Bridget Kelly and Bill Baroni. Though labeled the “mastermind” of the retalitory action taken against a Democrat mayor who declined to endorse Christie, Wildstein attempted to explain the culture of the administration at the time he served at the Port Authority.
“All three of us put our faith in a man who neither earned it nor deserved it,” Wildstein said in court at the time, referring to the then-Republican governor and GOP rising star. “I willingly drank the Kool-Aid of a man I’d known since I was 15 years old.”
Wildstein’s site now reigns as the state’s top non-partisan political news source.
David doesn’t do many interviews, preferring to analyze and report the news as opposed to making it himself, but he joined News 12’s Alex Zdan over the weekend to weigh in on his former political ally’s 2024 presidential prospects. He was characteristically blunt.
“I don’t think he’s going to be the nominee,” Wildstein told Zdan. “I can’t imagine anybody saying: let’s go out and find the worst possible human being and run him for President.”
Watch below:
"I don't think he's going to be the nominee. I can't imagine anybody saying: let's go out and find the worst possible human being and run him for President." – @wildstein on @GovChristie #2024 run vs #Trump and @GovRonDeSantis:#Power #Politics @News12NJ pic.twitter.com/2Kr1ieWBhm
— Alex Zdan (@ActualAlexZ) June 11, 2023
