“I have never seen anyone in politics who has worked as hard as Bill Stepien,” said Christie. “One of the things I said after her appointment is that there will be no detail left unresolved with Bill Stepien in charge.”
Christie’s warm support for Stepien contrasted with her assessment of Stepien in 2014, when the former New Jersey governor was embroiled in a political scandal involving the closure of traffic lanes on the George Washington Bridge connecting Fort Lee, New Jersey. , with New York. City. The lane closures were orchestrated in retribution by members of the Christie administration addressed to the Mayor of Fort Lee, who refused to endorse Christie’s reelection in 2013.
“I was annoyed by the tone, demeanor, and callous indifference shown in emails from my former campaign manager, Bill Stepien,” Christie said at a news conference on Bridgegate in 2014. “And reading that, I It lost my confidence in Bill’s trial. And you can’t have someone at the top of your political operation that you don’t trust. “
Stepien was expelled from Christie’s team as a result of the controversy. He had told Christie that he knew nothing about the lane closures on the bridge, a claim later exposed by emails showing Stepien taunting Fort Lee and the traffic congestion created by the bridge scheme.
However, Stepien managed to rise through the ranks of Republican politics, serving as field director in the 2016 Trump campaign and later as Trump’s political director in 2017.
In mid-July, Stepien was selected to lead Trump’s reelection effort in the place of Brad Parscale, who remains with the campaign in charge of his digital operation. Christie told the Washington Post on Friday that she credits Stepien with engineering Trump’s surprise surprise victory in 2016 and endorsed his former aide to do it again in November.
“I think what the president has done is buy himself a point and a half or two in all of these key states by having Bill Stepien in charge,” said Christie.
Christie also spoke about Stepien’s work ethic.
“He will work 18 hours a day, he will inspire the people around him to work almost as hard,” Christie told the Washington Post.
