Christie tries for laughs on 'Late Night with Jimmy Fallon'

New Jersey Gov. Christie said, "No chance," when asked Tuesday if he was going to run for president during an appearance on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon."

Christie's popularity among Republicans nationwide has soared in recent months and he toured the country helping GOP candidates in the recent election.

Fallon's show is taped in Manhattan early in the evening, but Christie didn't appear on TV screens until almost 1:30 a.m. EST - long after Jessica Simpson and Fallon played a dopey, ringtoss version of tic-tac-toe - but perhaps YouTube can help spread Christie's turn on Fallon's stage.

Christie adopted his tough-guy political persona to scold Fallon for recent jokes about New Jersey. In dismissing Fallon's question about running for president, Christie said, "Why would I want a less powerful job than I have now?"

Fallon asked Christie about his decision to halt construction of a new rail tunnel connecting New Jersey to Manhattan. Christie complained that New York's contribution was nil and that New Jersey would be on the hook for any cost overruns in the multibillion dollar project.

"New York was paying nothing and there is nothing New Jersey people hate more than getting screwed by New York," Christie said.

Christie also ruled out accepting a vice-presidential nomination from anyone, including Sarah Palin, who is perhaps the only Republican more popular than Christie.

Asked by Fallon if he thought Palin could win the presidential election in 2012, Christie avoided the question by laughing, shaking his head and saying, "Who knows? But it's an amazing world."