Gowdy: Christie helped Dems by attacking Rubio

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) says Chris Christie’s attacks on Marco Rubio during last week’s GOP presidential debate helped the Democrats.

“What Chris Christie did was an in-kind contribution to the Democrat Party,” Gowdy said on Fox News on Wednesday.

{mosads}He added that there was no chance the New Jersey governor was “ever going to be our nominee.”

“Marco Rubio can win in November,” he said. “In fact, he’s more likely to win than any of our other candidates. So what Chris Christie did is just hurt Marco Rubio, but he didn’t help himself and in the process, he helped whoever the Democrat nominee is.”

Christie attacked the Florida senator’s speech style during the debate Saturday night for being overly scripted and criticized him for his inexperience. Christie, who placed sixth in the New Hampshire primary Tuesday night, suspended his campaign Wednesday.

Rubio attributed his disappointing finish in the Granite State to his debate performance and vowed it would never happen again.

Gowdy, who endorsed Rubio in December, touted the Florida senator as a “brilliant communicator” and said he wasn’t surprised Rubio took responsibility for his poor performance.

“He is one of the more principled, honorable, character-laden people that I have been around,” Gowdy said.

“I think part of it is he is judged against his own standard. He’s so good in debates. Whenever he’s not perfect, it stands out. Those of us who know him are not surprised that he would take responsibility, but we’re going to give him a boost in South Carolina,” he said.