Christie: Gingrich 'embarrassed' the GOP

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Sunday dubbed Mitt Romney’s showing in South Carolina “clearly disappointing,” but quickly turned his focus to Newt Gingrich, saying he has been “an embarrassment to the party.”

Christie, a key Romney surrogate in his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, blasted Gingrich on NBC's "Meet the Press" for his ethics violation fine and losing the speakership in the House, saying that “sometimes past is prologue.”

“Newt Gingrich has embarrassed the party over time. Whether he'll do it again in the future I don't know, but Gov. Romney never has,” Christie said on NBC's “Meet the Press.”

"I mean he was run out of the speakership by his own party, he was fined $300,000 for ethics violations. This is a guy that has had a very difficult political career at times, and has been an embarrassment to the party," Christie added.

What the country needs, the governor said, is not “another legislator in the Oval Office who doesn’t know how to use executive authority.”

Christie didn’t shy away from Saturday’s result, saying Gingrich's victory was indeed bad news for Romney’s campaign. He said, however, that he fully expects Romney to pull out the victory in Florida.

“You know, I’m not going to try to say last night was good news for the Romney campaign. We had a bad week as a campaign, and a bad result last night," Christie said. "So, you pick yourself up, dust yourself off and you get to Florida and fight. I still believe that Governor Romney’s going to win in Florida on the 31st, and then return to Florida in August as the Republican nominee.”

While Christie has pointed to Romney’s difficulties in connecting with people before, he said Sunday it’s due to Romney being a “reserved guy.” He then turned to what he deemed Gingrich’s liabilities.

“Strategic adviser? That is the oldest Washington dodge in the book. That's because he didn't want to register as a lobbyist,” Christie said.

“First, he said he was a historian and now a strategic adviser. It's the oldest dodge in the book," he added. "He was using his influence he obtained in public office to help them. That's why they paid him $1.6 million. He can call it whatever he wants to call it, but that's what it is. Every candidate will have liabilities. What I was saying to Oprah in that interview, it's a challenge for Governor Romney and as campaigns evolve, people meet those challenges. I believe Mitt Romney will meet that challenge and connect."

Christie also addressed the vice presidency question once again, saying, “If I'm approached I will listen, but my inclination, I want to make it very clear, is that I want to stay governor of New Jersey."