"If people want safer streets, they want police supported, then they should vote for Donald Trump because that’s what he’ll do," Chris Chrsitie said. | Getty Christie doubles down on Trump's outreach to blacks

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who's chairing Donald Trump's transition team, on Sunday defended the Republican presidential nominee's description of African-Americans' lives as marked by poverty and violence.

"The message is that if anybody lives in those circumstances in this country, that’s something that the government should be working to try to change," Christie said on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos." "And Donald Trump is not going to give in to the special interests in this country, like the teachers union."


Many black voters did not recognize themselves in Trump's description and found it offensive, journalist Martha Raddatz said in posing the question to Christie.

"When you have any folks in our population who live under the threat of violence, who live under the threat of crime, who don’t have the opportunity that others have because the schools in our urban areas are a dreaded failure, because of the positions that Hillary Clinton has taken and the people who support her, that I think any candidate should speak out to say that that type of thing is unacceptable," Christie said.

"And I think what Donald is saying is that it’s unacceptable to him that members of the African-American community — and I’m sure he will say this about other communities as well — who live in violence, who are subject to that, or who do not have the educational opportunities that every child in this country should have so they can reach their fullest potential, that that’s unacceptable."

Christie said Trump's tweet saying African-Americans will vote for him because of the slaying in Chicago on Friday of the cousin of NBA star Dwyane Wade while pushing a stroller meant that "If people want safer streets, they want police supported, then they should vote for Donald Trump, because that’s what he’ll do."

"He’ll appoint an attorney general who will send very clear messages about how law enforcement is to be pursued in this country," Christie added, referencing a job he's widely believed to want after being passed over for Trump's running mate.

Asked about Trump's calling Hillary Clinton a bigot last week, Christie blamed Clinton for introducing charges of racism into the campaign.

"The fact is that she’s been the person who started this type of conversation in the campaign," he said. "She should be ashamed of herself."

Christie bristled at the suggestion that he was responsible for advising Trump to soften his stance on immigration, saying, "the advice I give to Donald is to Donald." He also said Trump's evolution won't repel supporters who wanted all undocumented immigrants deported because of the stark contrast with Clinton's approach.