Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie slammed President Joe Biden for agreeing to a prisoner swap with the Islamic Republic of Iran that includes the unfreezing of $6 billion in Iranian oil revenues.
Christie made the remarks during a Monday interview with Kaitlan Collins on CNN’s “The Source” after Collins asked if he would have made the same deal.
“I would not have made the deal, Kaitlan, no,” Christie said. “The idea that Iran would use this money for only humanitarian efforts — let me tell you what humanitarian is in Iran, Kaitlan. That means they cut your hand off before they kill you. That’s humanitarian in Iran.”
“This is one of the most barbaric regimes in the world, they are the biggest exporter of terror in the world, and Joe Biden has given them now $6 billion to go and make mischief, more mischief, dangerous mischief around the world,” he continued. “I wouldn’t have made this deal. As much as I would have liked those Americans to be home, you cannot give $6 billion to a terrorist state.”
Christie said that when it comes to trying to get the prisoners released, all a president can do is their “very best” in pulling whatever levers they can to try to secure their release without making matters worse.
“Americans are now more of a target for Iran than they were before because they took five this time, maybe they’ll take ten next time, and then they’ll be looking for $12 billion or $15 billion,” Christie said. “This never ends. It’s a slippery slope that you slide down. As a leader, you have to say no to that type of thing.”
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He said that the problem involved the unfreezing of the $6 billion and not the direct prisoner swap where five Iranians were released for the five American prisoners.
Including the money in the deal “empowers that regime to export terror and encourages them to take more Americans in order to try to get more money from assets that are frozen because of their own terrorist conduct,” he added.
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