Jon Stewart slams Chris Christie’s ‘amazing negotiating skills’ over Exxon settlement
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie reportedly interfered with his state’s $9 billion lawsuit against oil giant ExxonMobil earlier this month, and 'Daily Show' host Jon Stewart had a lot to say about it on Thursday night’s show.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie reportedly interfered with his state's $9 billion lawsuit against oil giant ExxonMobil earlier this month, and 'Daily Show' host Jon Stewart had a lot to say about it on Thursday night's show.
"Yes, Chris Christie, your amazing negotiating skills will get New Jersey a lot less money than almost everybody associated with this case, including Exxon, thought it would get," Stewart said.
ExxonMobil, of course, is responsible for a 2004 chemical spill that damaged more than 1,500 acres of wetlands, marshes and meadows in Northern Jersey that left much of the state looking like "Satan's skunk had diarrhea," in Stewart's words. The lawsuit was recently settled for a mere $250 million.
Critics also accuse Christie of diverting some of the money from that settlement to alleviate New Jersey's budget gap instead of cleaning up the mess. And, as HuffPo points out, Exxon contributed campaign funds to last year's Republican Governors Association, which Christie chaired.
"Christie said he was a great negotiator," Stewart said Thursday. "He didn't say which side he was working for."
Christie, meanwhile, defended the settlement this week, saying that Exxon would fix the problem "no matter what it costs."
"They're going to have to clean up everything no matter what it costs, and we're going to get the $225 million on top of it," Christie told NJ.com. "They have to fix everything that they polluted to state standards and there is no cap on what they have to pay."