Nobody ever said, in any context, that Chris Christie was anything other than a “northeastern liberal state RINO”.
He may have been the “great white hope” (or “whale”) to some, but he is a creature of the electorate that put him into office. Composed of doctrinaire liberals and low-information voters, and opposed only by the few conservative or libertarian inhabitants of that tormented place, who are vastly outnumbered and scorned by every office seeker.
It’s time to stop using the term “RINO”.
This is what Republicans are. The real “RINOs” are the conservatives who cling to the Party.