Chris Christie’s time, temper grows short in New Hampshire

EXETER, New Hampshire – Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie wasn’t in a holly, jolly mood at a recent campaign stop here — ducking inquiries from the press in apparent violation of his “tell it like it is” campaign slogan.

“Not taking any questions from the media,” Christie said when the The Post approached him following his Dec. 20 appearance at a brewery in Exeter, 30 miles east of Manchester, the state’s largest city.

It was not the first time the 61-year-old has been camera-shy at seemingly inopportune times; Christie also skipped out on appearing in the media-heavy spin room at three of the four Republican primary debates held this year.

Christie has staked his campaign’s viability on a strong performance in New Hampshire, on which he has focused his campaign to the exclusion of other early states.

That focus is not paying off in the Granite State’s polls, where Christie is polling a clear but distant third with 10.5% support, according to the RealClearPolitics average, behind frontrunner Donald Trump (46.3%) and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (24.8%).

There doesn’t seem to be a hidden reservoir of Christie support either.

Most of the dozen or so residents who attended the event at the Sea Dog Brewing Company didn’t express much enthusiasm for him, instead saying they were either “open” to supporting the ex-governor or had other preferred candidates.

New Hampshire state Sen. Tim Lang, who introduced Christie, even joked that he was in his “top two” — a reference to the Garden Stater touting locals saying he was in their “top three” during his 2016 election.

One New Hampshire voter said she would be “open to voting strategically,” but would not reveal whether Christie was her top choice.

A few attendees did say they liked Christie’s no-BS image.

“You can trust what he says. He calls it like he sees it, versus making things up like other people,” local Steve Johnson told The Post.

“We’re here to see what he has to say” said another voter who declined to give their name, before adding of Christie: “… wish he would gain some momentum.”

“At least he’s trying to speak the truth, it sounds like,” said registered Democrat David Doyon, who added that he would consider voting for Christie if he somehow made the general election. “I’ll give him that. He’s saying the things that have to be said, so I give him a lot of credit.”

The former governor has branded himself as being the No. 1 anti-Trump candidate in the race, and has criticized his rivals for refusing to directly attack the former president.

Christie is “angry, but at least he’s angry for the right reasons,” according to Doyon. “All the rest of them are just angry for the sake of being angry.”

Christie has called for Democrats to consider voting for him in New Hampshire, but the deadline to change party registration passed Oct. 6.

Independents or otherwise unaffiliated voters can vote in either party’s primary on Jan. 23 — giving Christie less than a month to pull of a miracle.