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Jindal: Christie should not resign as RGA head

by Erik Wasson - 02/02/14 9:35 AM ET

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) said Sunday that embattled New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) should not step down as head of the Republican Governors Association.

“I think he ought to stay there,” Jindal said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

“No one governor is more important than the other. … What really matters is the RGA is a place where our governors come together,” he said.

House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) speaking on ABC’s “This Week” concurred and backed his “friend” Christie.

“I don’t think he should step down,” Ryan said, arguing that, at this point, it is one person’s word against another’s and you “always give the benefit of the doubt,” in these situations.

Ryan said that could change if other information comes to light, however.

{mosads}Christie is under fire for his administration’s move to close lanes of the George Washington Bridge last September as a punishment for the mayor of Fort Lee, N.J., who failed to endorse the governor for reelection.

Christie denied knowledge of the scheme and fired top aide Bridget Anne Kelly last month. On Friday, a lawyer for Port Authority official David Wildstein claimed that “evidence exists” that Christie knew of the closings as they were going on.

Christie’s office lashed out at Wildstein on Saturday, dredging up old allegations against the Christie appointee dating back to his childhood.

Jindal was also asked on the program if he is mulling a run for the White House in 2016 and he declined to answer.

—This report was updated at 10:51 a.m.

Tags Bobby Jindal Chris Christie Republican Governors Association