Chris Christie criticizes Trump with Stephen Colbert over tequila

In between shots of tequila, Chris Christie talked to Stephen Colbert about the shutdown, his political future, and much more.

Talking politics while have a few drinks typically isn’t a very good idea. It can be especially bad if the people doing it have opposing views. Yet Chris Christie and Stephen Colbert managed to keep things civil while doing just that on last night’s Late Show.

The former New Jersey governor stopped by the show to promote his book “Let Me Finish.” Christie was initially booked as part of a planned live show in response to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address. But as Colbert covered last week, that was put on hold during the government shutdown.

Last Night On highlighted Christie’s visit to The Late Show as one of the interviews to watch this week. That’s because Christie’s unpopularity and support of President Trump have been well documented as has Colbert’s criticism of the Republican Party and President Trump.

Things got off to an uneasy start when Christie’s asked for a drink right off the bat. He wasn’t too pleased with Colbert’s decision not to finish his shot in what was an awkward beginning that the two managed to overcome.

From there, the two actually found some common ground when it came to President Trump’s handling of the government shutdown. The issue of who to blame has been a topic of debate but Chris Christie made his position clear.

There aren’t too many Republicans coming out and publicly saying that President Trump “blew it” on the shutdown. It may be easier for Christie to do that considering he isn’t holding any office or up for re-election. He also revealed that President Trump was advised against a shutdown without a backup plan and went ahead with it anyway.

A few more refills on the tequila and the interview was much less combative than anticipated. But Colbert didn’t let Christie off too easy. He came back from the commercial break curious about why Christie remains loyal to President Trump and questioned who exactly is a Chris Christie supporter.

Christie’s answer is admirable if you take him at his word that he has the country’s best interests in mind. But it could also be that Christie is holding out hope of landing a job in Trump’s administration as more and more people jump ship.

But based on those approval ratings from his time running New Jersey and the reaction of the Late Show crowd, it wouldn’t be a wise move for Christie to further tie himself to President Trump. Especially if he is running for office soon as Colbert predicts.

Overall the interview had some surprised. Chris Christie didn’t shy away from criticizing President Trump. Stephen Colbert didn’t put the former New Jersey governor on the hot seat for too long. And both of them proved you can have a few drinks, talk politics, and still shake hands at the end of it.