There was a time not all too long ago when Donald Trump and Atlantic City went hand-in-hand, Save Jerseyans.
35 years after the grand opening of his Taj Mahal casino hotel, the future president’s former seaside gaming empire lies in ruins and all three of his former properties are history. The last vestige (Trump Plaza which used to sit alongside the boardwalk) was imploded two years ago.
As part of his endless and candidly nauseating quest to recapture his relevance by harassing President Trump, ex-New Jersey Governor Chris Christie targeted the Donald’s A.C. track record over the weekend. It’s only Christie’s latest swipe at his former ally which blends fact with fantasy and plenty of feigned authenticity. His digital team couldn’t wait to share the clip on social media.
“How stupid to you have to be to lose money in a casino?” Christie asked his audience. “The only people who lose money in a casino are us!”
How stupid do you have to be to lose money in the casino business?
3 casinos + 3 bankruptcies = Trump is a loser.
Thought the House always wins… guess not for Trump because he always loses! pic.twitter.com/iMDrTswAkh
— Chris Christie (@GovChristie) July 29, 2023
How stupid do you have to be, Chris?
As stupid as you, apparently!
Remember the word ‘Revel.’ Atlantic City residents will never forget it.
The initially stuck-in-the-mud Revel Casino project got off the ground in 2011 in large part because of $261 in tax incentives pledged by the Christie Administration. The total cost of the construction: $2.4 billion! But the soaring, futuristic looking tower never came close to living up to the taxpayers’ massive investment. After hundreds of millions of dollars in loses, two bankruptcy filings, and plenty of failed attempts at a rescue (including a $300 million pension investment), on April 7, 2015, the Revel was sold for $82 million. In terms of both real dollars and unrealized potential, Christie’s bad bet easily rivaled Donald Trump’s own Boardwalk Empire misadventures.
It opened in 2012 and closed in 2014 shortly before its sale.
Two years from open to close.
Revel wasn’t an isolated Christie failure, only the most expensive. Overall, four boardwalk casinos folded during Christie’s time in office, and his 2016 “rescue plan” – revisited only in the wake of a failed presidential bid that kept him away from home – failed to move the needle.
Only someone as shameless and arrogant as Chris Christie would believe that Chris Christie has any business whatsoever chiding anyone for failing Atlantic City… even the man whose name used to adorn three structures in town.
