Christie: If no Trump, I’d be Prez

OUTGOING New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says his path to the presidency would have been a day at the beach if Donald Trump had not run.

“It’s incredibly frustrating to think to yourself, ‘Wow, if this guy were not in the race, we’d win this thing,’ ” Christie said in an interview with NJ.com published Sunday. “And I absolutely believe if Trump had not gotten into the race, I think we would have won.”

Christie also claimed he told Trump to stop bringing up the Bridgegate scandal — in which he was accused of ordering allies to close down lanes on the George Washington Bridge to punish the Fort Lee mayor for not endorsing his reelection — after Trump mentioned it during the campaign trail.

“'You know that’s not true, so stop, OK? You want to say other stuff about me? Fine. But that’s out of bounds. Stop it,’’ the Republican governor recalled telling Trump.

Trump never did it again, he said.

Christie defended his two terms in office, saying of the voters who overwhelmingly dislike him in the polls: “They’re gonna miss me when I’m gone.”

He also complained about photos NJ.com published showing him lounging in a chair at a closed beach during the state government shutdown last summer.

“You guys took that picture to make me look bad,” Christie said.