Chris Christie Weight Watch Update: Down 85 Pounds, Fit Enough to Be President
We are 85 pounds closer to the first magazine cover asking us to check out New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's banging beach bod. Our tabloid-style obsession with Christie's weight continues, with experts telling Politico that Christie has probably lost 85 pounds since having lap band surgery in February 2013.
Specifically, doctors estimated that Christie may have gone from a body mass index of 45 (and 322 pounds) to a current BMI of 33 (and 236 pounds). However, past estimates have placed his starting weight closer to 350. More importantly, based off the equally subjective scale of whether he's slim enough to be president, the change has been dramatic. People are less worried about him dying in office, at least. Here's how Christie's weight loss has come along, both in terms of pounds dropped and presidential prospects gained.
September 29, 2011
"Look, I’m sorry, but New Jersey Governor Chris Christie cannot be president: He is just too fat," Michael Kinsley writes on Bloomberg View. Christie's starting weight is estimated at 322 to 350 pounds.
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September 30, 2011
The New Republic invites readers to estimate Christie's weight. The crowdsourced total is 334 pounds. Jonathan Chait at New York magazine argued that Christie's weight is irrelevant to his presidential ambitions, except that "American elites view obesity with disgust, and they’re repulsed at the notion that a very fat guy could rise to a position of symbolic leadership." His weight and presidential prospects stay the same.
Christie, December 2011.
February 5, 2013
Christie eats a donut on the Late Show with David Letterman, proving he's an excellent sport. This increases his likability, an important presidential trait.
February 13, 2013
Christie sneaks off the New York to get lap band surgery. "This is a hell of a lot more important to me than running for president," Christie says when the news goes public. "This is about my family’s future." To everyone else though, the surgery is only as important as him running for president.
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May 7, 2013
Time demystifies Christie's lap band surgery.
October 25, 2013
"Governor Christie has normal blood work ... He has no medical limitations and is fit to serve as the Governor of the state of New Jersey," a medical report from his cardiologist concludes, according to CBS News. His weight's down, but being fit to lead New Jersey isn't the same as being fit to lead America.
November 1, 2013
An excerpt of Double Down reveals that Mitt Romney thought Christie was too fat to be his vice president. "Romney marveled at Christie’s girth, his difficulties in making his way down the narrow aisle of the campaign bus,” the authors write. “Watching a video of Christie without his suit jacket on, Romney cackled to his aides, ‘Guys! Look at that!’” Note: Romney is fat shaming pre-surgery Christie.
November 5, 2013
Christie is half-way to his weight loss goal, according to CNN. In November he says he's sleeping better thanks to the weight loss as well.
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November 7, 2013
Time releases its "The Elephant in the Room" fat joke cover.
November 8, 2013
BuzzFeed Politics publishes "12 Pictures That Show How Much Weight Chris Christie Has Lost This Year."
January 8, 2014
The infamous "[t]ime for some traffic problems in Fort Lee" email goes public. Bridgegate, and allegations that Christie punishes his political opponents, damages his 2016 odds more than more urgent matters like his weight.
February 19, 2014
NBC News goes with this headline: "Still Not Skinny, Christie Cheered as a Weight-Loss Surgery Success."
May 28, 2014
“By the way, you do look fantastic,” a woman says to Christie at a town hall. His wife urges him to buy new suits, possibly to look more presidential.
June 2, 2014
“I think he is making progress, absolutely, for what I would expect at this point of the process,” Jessica Barfield, a doctor of internal medicine, tells Politico, based on looking at pictures of him.
This article was originally published at http://www.thewire.com/politics/2014/06/chris-christie-weight-watch-update-down-85-pounds-fit-enough-to-be-president/372003/
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