Chris Christie Makes The Case For ‘Locking Clinton Up’ At The Republican Convention

Chris Christie addressed the Republican National Convention Tuesday night and used his time on the podium to play prosecutor. The New Jersey governor and former presidential hopeful told the Cleveland crowd that they were “a jury of [Hillary Clinton‘s] peers.” He then led them in chants of “Lock her up!”

“I am here tonight not only as the Governor of New Jersey,” Christie opened, “but also as Donald Trump‘s friend for the last 14 years.” After a somewhat contentious campaign, Christie became a Trump confidante and was considered among the top candidates to join the ticket as Vice President. “We are about to be led by not only a strong leader, but by a caring, genuine, and decent person.”

But after the warm beginning, Christie quickly pivoted to Clinton. “Let’s do something fun tonight,” he said. “Tonight, as a former federal prosecutor, I welcome the opportunity to hold Hillary Clinton accountable for her performance and her character.” The “Lock her up!” chants began while Christie smiled and nodded.

“So here’s what we’re going to do, we’re going to present the facts to you,” he said, referring to the Convention floor as well as the televised audience. “You see, since the Justice Department doesn’t want to allow you to render a verdict, I’m going to present the case now, on the facts, against Hillary Rodham Clinton.”

Christie went on to blame Clinton for problems — South Africa, Nigeria, China, Syria, Iran, Russia, and Cuba — which presumably occurred during her tenure as Secretary of State in the Obama administration. After running through each “case,” he asked the crowd, “guilty or not guilty?” “Guilty!” the audience screamed in return each time.

“Her focus-group-tested persona with no genuineness to be found is a sham meant to obscure all the facts and leave you able to vote for her,” Christie added in an aside.

“Here it is everybody,” he concluded, his voice hoarse from shouting. “We didn’t disqualify Hillary Clinton to be President of the United States, the facts of her life and career disqualify her!” Christie promised that if Clinton wins the presidency, her administration would be “all the failure of the Obama years, but with less charm, and more lies.”

Oh, and Clinton has already reacted on Twitter.