Christie: Rubio’s Debate Performance Showed He ‘Can’t Stand on the Stage with Hillary’

BRZEZINSKI: “...Mark Halperin. And joining the conversation along with Willie, Joe and me, Republican presidential candidate Governor Chris Christie. A really great guy.” (Applause)
SCARBOROUGH: “Wow. You know what, Chris —“
BRZEZINSKI: “Such a great guy.”
CHRISTIE: “That’s what people always say, isn’t it?”
SCARBOROUGH: “Well, no, not really. (Laughter) But I will tell you Jeb Bush, John Kasich and a lot of other Republicans this morning are saying you are a really great guy. Talk about — I mean, you did something the other night that will be remembered, I think, as long as, you know —“ [crosstalk]
BRZEZINSKI: “Politics are politics. Covered.”
SCARBOROUGH: “I know Jack Kennedy, you know Jack Kennedy or Ronald Reagan saying there you go again, when you say there it is. Was that something that was planned or did he walk into that by repeating it the fourth time?”
CHRISTIE: “No, it wasn’t planned, but certainly that’s who he is. And so, to the extent that —”
SCARBOROUGH: “What do you mean that’s who he is?”
CHRISTIE: “What I mean is that — that’s what he does all the time. I mean, Marco just gets told what to say and he repeats it. I mean, that’s what he does. And so, I’ve been saying that all week. It wasn’t like Saturday should have been some big surprise. I mean, I’ve been saying that all week, Joe, and that’s the way he does things.”
SCARBOROUGH: “You know, that’s one of the things that a lot of the conservative commentators after on FOX and some with the ‘Wall Street journal’ were saying, he knew this attack was coming. How could he be so ill-prepared for it? Does he really just repeat the same things — I mean, because you follow him around all the time, I don’t. Does he really just repeat the same thing on the campaign trail over and over again?”
CHRISTIE: “Yes, he does. That’s what he does. But here is the thing, that great political philosopher, Mike Tyson, — (Laughter) he had a great saying, he said everybody has got a plan until you get punched in the face. And I think you can plan for whatever you want — and this is what I mean about, you know, why we can’t nominate someone who can’t stand on the stage with Hillary Clinton. I mean, if anybody thought that was tough on Saturday night, first of all, in New Jersey we call that a night off.”
BRZEZINSKI: “Right? 
SCARBOROUGH: “Yeah.”
CHRISTIE: “Right? And second, Hillary Clinton will be much tougher.”