Gov. Chris Christie on American Federation of Teachers

Chris Christie, a current Republican candidate for president in 2016, has no qualms about stating his clear disdain for the National Teachers Union.

In an interview Sunday, CNN, correspondent Jake Tapper noted that Christie had often advised punching bullies “in the face” and asked the governor who fits that description.

“Oh, the national teachers union”, Christie said.

“And they are the single most destructive force in public education in America”, he added. “I like to punch them in the face”, Tapper recalled the governor saying. “I’ve been saying that since 2009, I’ve got the scars to show it and I’ll never stop saying it because they don’t change their stripes”. Just to name a recent example, Christie recently prevailed in court over the unions over his decision not to make state payments to the pension system for public employees in fiscal years 2014 and 2015. The union president, Randi Weingarten, is a longtime ally of Clinton.

In 2013, after Christie delivered a speech at a VFW hall during his campaign for re-election to a second term as governor, middle school teacher Melissa Tomlinson asked Christie, “Why are you portraying our schools as failure factories?”

Now the head of New Jersey’s AFT branch, the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA), says Christie’s comment was so offensive he should “resign as governor immediately.” He wagged a finger at her and said: “What do you want?”

“That’s not news in New Jersey, where voters overwhelmingly reject his immature and inappropriate behavior as well as his failed policies and lack of leadership”, he said.

Christie placed ninth in the latest national polls and appears to have secured his podium on the main debate stage this Thursday but his approval rating with Garden State voters stands at only 30 percent.

Seeking an upper hand in a crowded GOP presidential election field, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is calling for an uppercut to his old political foe. He abruptly backed out of a commission established by Christie.