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Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie says President Donald Trump having family in the White House makes things worse. Buzz60

WASHINGTON Stunned and overwhelmed.

Thats how former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie describedMike Pences reaction to being elected vice president a job Christie wanted.

Christie doesnt savage Pence in a new book in which he blames toxic forces around President Donald Trump for the problems of his presidency.

But his portrayal of the man he first introduced to Trump who then beat him out to be Trumps running mate and took over the transition after Christie was fired from the job also isnt exactly flattering.

Heres what he had to say about Pence in "Let Me Finish: Trump, the Kushners, Bannon, New Jersey, and the Power of In-Your-Face Politics, the latest in a long line of books written by Trump associates offeringan inside account of aWhite House widely described as chaotic.

"Let Me Finish," by Chris Christie.(Photo: Hachette Books)

One of the assets Pence brought to the Trump ticket was his strong fundraising skills and network of conservative donors.

But Christie makes a point of noting that Pence needed his help when raising money for his 2012 gubernatorial campaign in Indiana. Christie said he campaigned and raised money for Pence three times, including once after initially declining so he could celebrate his wifes birthday.

Chris, please, Pence begged, according to the book. This donor says hell raise a huge amount of money if youre here. Please.

After getting the OK from his wife, Christie agreed and Pence raised a ton of money.

(Pences wife, Karen, gave Christie a beautifully wrapped present to take home to his wife.)

Four years later, Pence asked Christie to introduce him to Trump when Pence was deciding whom to back for the 2016 presidential nomination. Trump agreed to fly to Indiana. (At the time, Pences spokeswoman said the two were meeting because Trump reached out to the governor.)

Christie described the encounter at the Indiana governors residence as a nice though slightly stiff, very serious conversation led by Pence about the state of the country.

There werent many flashes of personality or much joviality between them, Christie wrote.

Before Trump left, Pence asked if they could pray together. Trump agreed, but later asked Christie if Pence does that all the time. Told that he does, Trump had a one word response: interesting.

Gov. Mike Pence and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump met at the governor's residence on April 20, 2016.(Photo: Michelle Pemberton/IndyStar 2016 file photo)

Despite arranging the meeting with Trump, Christie said, he wasn't told when Pence decided toback Texas senator Ted Cruz instead. Trump was incensed.

Are you kidding me? he told Christie, according to his book. You take me out to see this guy and then the guy screws me? He stabs me in the back by endorsing Cruz? And how come he didnt give you any heads-up?

When Christie confronted Pence byphone, he hemmed and hawed but had no real explanation for the lack of warning, Christie wrote.

But Trump calmed down a bit after learning how much Pence had praised Trump while officially backing Cruz.

Pence had skillfully threaded the needle. Donald ended up winning Indiana, Christie wrote. No harm, no foul.

Christie suggestedthat Trump wanted Christie as his running mate but Trumps daughterIvankaand son-in-law Jared Kushner were opposed. (As a federal prosecutor, Christie sent Kushners father to jail and Christies book is full of his conflicts with Kushner.)

Christie was told that Paul Manafort, Trumps then-campaign manager, was also pushing for Pence. Manaforts 2016 support for Pence has been seen by some as potentially problematic for the vice president since Manafort is a central figure in special counsel Robert Muellers probe. But Christie saw Manaforts maneuvers for Pence as merely a way for him to stay in Kushners good graces.

Christie describedhimself as not willing to lobby for the jobof No. 2 as Trump held a final meeting with Pence in Indiana.

After Sean Hannity lent the third finalist, Newt Gingrich,his plane to fly to Indianapolis to try to intercede, Christie said a friend offered him a plane. Christie wrote that he declined because, Thats not who I am. Donald knows me. If he wants to pick me, he picks me. But Im not going to get into this.

But in Pence: The Path to Power, author Andrea Neal wrote that the driver taking Eric and Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner to the airport after the meeting with Pence heard Eric telling the others that Christie had repeatedly called his father during the meeting. When Eric called Christie back from the car, the driver could hear him reassure an animated Christie that no decision had been made.

Trump called Pence that night and offered him the job, Neal and others have written.

Your dad was just asked to be the candidate for the vice president of the United States, Pence told his children, according to the book his daughter, Charlotte, published last year. The family hunched down in their car seats to avoid being seen as they were driven to the airport the next day to board a private plane to New York for the announcement.

But as Pence prepared for the clandestine trip, Christie wrote that Trump called him that morning to ask if he was still interested in the job.

Yes, I really want it, Christie said he told him.

And when Christie learned later in the day that Pence was flying in for the announcement, Trump blamed it on Manafort trying to force my hand.

Trump went on Fox News to say he hadnt made a final, final decision.

When Trump gave Christie the heads up the next day that he was about to tweet his choice of Pence, Christie admitted to being disappointed.

Youve got to understand, Chris, Trump responded, according to the book. Hes out of Central Casting.

Donald Trump and Mike Pence on stage at the conclusion of the 2016 Republican National Convention at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland on July 21, 2016.(Photo: Jack Gruber-USA TODAY)

Christie sat on Trumps left and Pence on his right as they watched increasingly positive returns come in election night. No one said much.

After one of the networks projected Trump would win Pennsylvania, a small group left the campaigns war room for Trumps residence. Christie, Pence and others started fleshing out a victory speech that existed as only bullet points not expected to be needed, according to the book.

After Hillary Clinton called Trump to concede, Christie wrote, Pence was just shaking his head.

He looked stunned and overwhelmed, Christie remembered. And he told Christies son that Christie had understood what Trump could do before anyone else had.

But thats not how Pence is portrayed in Neals book.

At no point during the evening did Pence envision defeat, she wrote, even texting to some friends the famous picture of President Harry Truman waving the 'Dewey defeats Truman'headline."

Christie doesnt say what he thinks about the job Pence has done as vice president, or that he did as head of the transition a post Pence was given after Christie was ousted from the job after the election.

But Christie wrote plentyabout the consequences of the campaign trashingthe detailed road map his team had prepared for legislative accomplishments, executive orders and key nominations. (The pre-vetted candidates included Pences predecessor as governor Purdue University President Mitch Daniels for education secretary. The list also included former Eli Lilly executive Alex Azar whom Trump ended up turning to after having to replace Tom Price, his first choice for Health and Human Services secretary.)

Christie blames Kushner, former presidential adviser Steve Bannon and others for discardinghis work for their own selfish reasons.

They set loose toxic forces, he wrote, that have made Trumps presidency far less effective than it would otherwise have been.

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At her Las Vegas show, "Enigma," Lady Gaga said, "I am a Christian woman" and Vice President Mike Pence is "wrong." USA TODAY

Lady Gaga hadsome choice words for Vice President Mike Pence.

The outspoken singerpaused during a performanceof "Million Reasons" at herLas Vegas residencyshow "Enigma" Saturday to addressthe government shutdown and call out the nation's top leaders, including President Donald Trump.

"If the (expletive) president of the United States could please put our government back," Gaga, 32,told the crowd atMGM'sPark Theater. "There are people who live paycheck to paycheck and need their money."

Related:'Out of this world!': What critics are saying about Lady Gaga's Las Vegas residency debut

Lady Gaga is slamming Vice President Mike Pence as the "worst representation of what it means to be a Christian."(Photo: Frazer Harrison, (Credit too long, see caption))

Lady Gaga then took aim at Pence, who recently defended his wife, Karen Pence's, new teaching position at a private school that bansLGBT employees, gaystudents andthechildren of gay parents.

"To Mike Pence, who thinks that its acceptablethat his wife works at a school that bans LGBTQ, youre wrong," she said. "Youre the worst representation of what it means to be a Christian."

Lady Gagacontinued: "I am a Christian woman, and whatI do know about Christianity is that we bear no prejudice, and everybody is welcome. So you can take all that disgrace, Mr. Pence, and look yourself in the mirror and youll find it right there."

Mike Pence recently defended his wife, Karen Pence's, new teaching position at a private school that bans LGBT employees, gay students and the children of gay parents.(Photo: Cliff Owen, AP)

The singer'sscorching take down comes afterthe second lady announced plans last week to return to the classroom atImmanuel Christian School to teach artin Springfield, Virginia.However, Karen's decision has come under fire over the private school's discriminatory practices against the LGBTQ community.

Underaparent agreementposted on the school's website, Immanuel can refuse admission to students who participate in, support or condone "sexual immorality, homosexual activity or bisexual activity." The school also can refuse admission based on similar "activities of a parent or guardian" or "within a particular home."

Pence backed his wife's decision onthe Catholic news network EWTN Thursday, saying it's "deeply offensive to us" to "see major news organizations attacking Christian education."

"Mrs. Pence has returned to the school where she previously taught for 12 years," her spokeswoman, Kara Brooks said in a statement. "It's absurd that her decision to teach art to children at a Christian school, and the school's religious beliefs, are under attack."

Contributing: Maureen Groppe, USA TODAY

Related:Second Lady Karen Pence is stepping back into the classroom at a school that bans gay students

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Lady Gaga slams Mike Pence: 'worst representation of ... a ...

Vice President Mike Pence compared Donald Trump to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during a CBS News interview over the weekend, claiming both leaders have inspired Americans to change through the legislative process.

During a segment on Sundays Face The Nation, host Margaret Brennan pressed Pence on the presidents latest offer to end the partial government shutdown, which involves trading extended protections for DACA recipients for a wall on the southern U.S.-Mexico border. Before Trump officially made the proposal on Saturday, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) rejected it in a statement where she called the deal unacceptable, a non-starter and stated that it did not represent a good faith effort to restore certainty to peoples lives.

If this is a genuine attempt [at ending the shutdown], why werent any Democrats included in the consultations? Brennan asked Pence on Sunday.

U.S. President Vice President Mike Pence speaks during a Missile Defense Review announcement on January 17, 2019 at the Pentagon, in Arlington, Virginia. On Sunday, Pence compared Trump to Martin Luther King Jr. on the eve of MLK Day. Getty/Martin H. Simon

Pence responded by reciting Trump administration talking points before adding a surprise comparison of the president to Martin Luther King Jr. to sell the proposed border wall.

Honestly, you know, the hearts and minds of the American people today are thinking a lot about it being the weekend we are remembering the life and the work of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. One of my favorite quotes from Dr. King was, Now is the time to make real the the promises of democracy, he said, quoting a passage from Dr. Kings famous I Have a Dream speech.

Pence continued on to argue that like MLK, Trump has also inspired us to change. You think of how he changed America, he inspired us to change through the legislative process, to become a more perfect union, he said. Thats exactly what President Trump is calling on the Congress to do, come to the table in a spirit of good faith.

Read more:Martin Luther King in Pictures: The Life and Times of the Civil Rights Icon

The vice presidents comments come on the eve of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday marking the birthday of the influential American civil rights movement leader and celebrating his life and achievements.

A partial government shutdown went into effect in December after Trump declined to sign a stop-gap measure designed to keep it running through to February on the basis that it didnt include funding for his proposed border wall. Now on its 29th day with no resolution in sight, the shutdownwhich has left around 800,000 federal employees either furloughed or working unpaidbecame the longest in U.S. history when it hit 22 days last weekend, beating a 1996 record set by Bill Clintons administration.

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Mike Pence Compares Trump to Martin Luther King Jr. on eve of ...

Lady Gaga weighed in on the nations current state of affairs during her Enigma show in Las Vegas on Saturday, joining an ever-growing list of celebrities to voice their disapproval of the Trump administration.

The Grammy winner singled out Vice President Mike Pence, slamming himfor thinking its acceptable that his wife work at a school that bans LGBTQ.

The vice president has defended Karen Pencesdecision to teach at the Immanuel Christian School, which bans LGBTQ employees, students and families. In an interview with Eternal World Television Network, Mike Pence likened the uproar overhis wifes decision to an attack on Christianity.

You are wrong, the singer said, before speaking of her own Christian faith:

You said we should not discriminate against Christianity. You are the worst representation of what it means to be a Christian. I am a Christian woman, and what I do know about Christianity is that we bear no prejudice and everybody is welcome. So you can take all that disgrace Mr. Pence and you can look yourself in the mirror and youll find it right there.

The A Star Is Born actress also issued a message to Donald Trump amid the ongoing partial government shutdown, asking if the fucking president of the United States could please put our government back in business.

There are people who live paycheck to paycheck and need their money, she said to applause from the audience.

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Lady Gaga Slams Mike Pence: Hes The Worst Representation ...

On the eve of a holiday commemorating the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Vice President Mike Pence seemed to liken President Donald Trump's push for a border wall to the civil rights leader's legacy.

Speaking Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation," the vice president quoted from King's "I Have a Dream" speech as he defended Trump's latest pitch to secure funding for a barrier along the United States' southern border. The budget impasse over the wall has resulted in the longest government shutdown in history, one that has left thousands of federal workers without pay.

"One of my favorite quotes from Dr. King was, 'Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy,' " Pence said. "You think of how he changed America. He inspired us to change through the legislative process, to become a more perfect union.'

"That's exactly what President Trump is calling on Congress to do," Pence continued. "Come to the table in the spirit of good faith. We'll secure our border. We'll reopen the government, and we'll move our nation forward as the president said yesterday to even a broader discussion about immigration reform in the months ahead."

Pence was referring to the president's latest proposal to end the partial government shutdown. On Saturday, Trump offered Democrats three years of deportation protections for some immigrants, including many who were brought to the country illegally as children, in exchange for $5.7 billion in wall funding.

Democrats, who have long sought protections for beneficiaries of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, who are known as "Dreamers," immediately rejected the proposal, arguing that the president should reopen the government before any talks on border security begin. Conservatives saw the president's proposal as amnesty.

On Sunday, Pence appeared on shows and defended Trump's proposal, which he said "provides a framework" for ending the shutdown.

"What the president presented yesterday really is an effort to bring together ideas from both political parties," Pence said on CBS. "I think it is an act of statesmanship on the president's part to say, 'Here's what I'm for. It includes my priorities.' "

Pence's comments about King drew immediate pushback from Democrats, including Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., who said Trump "is no MLK."

"To equate the legacy of one of America's finest statesmen and champions of civil rights with a vanity project built on racist ideology and hatred is beyond disgraceful," Speier tweeted.

The NAACP called Pence's comments "an insult" to King's legacy.

The partial shutdown has closed parks across the country, including the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park in Atlanta. The park reopened in time for the holiday after it received a grant from Delta Air Lines. One of King's children, Martin Luther King III, talked about the reopening on CNN on Sunday.

The Washington Post was unable to reach Martin Luther King III for comments about Pence's remarks.

In recent years, the civil rights leader's children have asked Trump to stop using what they believe to be divisive rhetoric.

Martin Luther King III called out Trump last year over reports that the president used vulgar words to deride African countries and said the country should instead bring more immigrants from countries such as Norway.

"When a president insists that our nation needs more citizens from white states like Norway, I don't even think we need to spend any time even talking about what it says and what it is," Martin Luther King III said, according to The Associated Press. "We got to find a way to work on this man's heart."

During the holiday commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. last year, his daughter, Bernice King, also told the AP that she hopes Trump would observe the holiday by avoiding offensive tweets.

"If he can dare to do that, I would be proud on that day that our president honored Dr. King by not doing things that are offensive," Bernice King said.

The Washington Post's Felicia Sonmez contributed to this report.

This story first appearedin The Washington Post

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Mike Pence links Trump's push for border wall to Martin ...