Previously, the governor explained only that the jobs Trump offered failed to interest him. Watch video
TRENTON -- Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday disclosed that first lady Mary Pat Christie had refused to move with the governor to Washington D.C. should he take a job in the Trump cabinet, and that this informed the governor's decision to turn down several cabinet-level slots.
"He didn't offer me a job that I thought was exciting enough for me to leave the governorship, and my family," Christie said on WFAN's "Boomer and Carton" morning show. "Because Mary Pat made really clear she wasn't coming to D.C."
On Wednesday, co-host Craig Carton, interjected, "You would have had to given at least a two-year commitment to be there."
"Correct," answered the governor.
In December, Trump transition sources told NJ Advance Media that Christie was offered cabinet-level posts like secretary of Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs, as well as a slot as a top White House aide and U.S. ambassador to Italy, but declined them all.
The Christies have four children, two of whom are in high school and still living at home.
In declining to relocate from their home in Mendham, Mary Pat Christie is taking a similar stand as Trump's wife, Melania, who in November decided to remain in New York City until their 10-year-old son Barron finished out the school year.
Guadagno is running for governor, and away from Christie
However, earlier this week, citing anonymous sources, Politico reported that Christie was still being considered as a mid-term replacement for when Trump's first-string cabinet picks either resign or are sacked.
Late on Monday, the Wall Street Journal confirmed as much in an interview with Trump, who said that "at some point, we're going to do something with Chris."
Christie also insisted that reports that his political career have been demolished by Trump were false, and the result of media bias against him.
"Whenever you've been extraordinarily popular, the media want to make you extraordinarily unpopular, because that's part of their gig," the governor said.
Christie currently has an 18 percent approval rating, the second-lowest in modern New Jersey history.
His lieutenant governor, Kim Guadagno, formally declared her candidacy to replace him on Tuesday, and notably failed to mention Christie at all in her speech.
Claude Brodesser-Akner may be reached at cbrodesser@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ClaudeBrodesser. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
