Barbour wanted NJ Gov. Christie 'to put a hot poker under Obama's butt' during Tampa speech

Former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) wanted Gov. Chris Christie (R) to deliver a much more aggressive convention speech attacking President Obama.

According to a report in Bloomberg Businessweek, Barbour said that Christie should have "put a hot poker to Obama's butt" during the New Jersey governor's speech at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla.

"While I would love for [Chris] Christie to put a hot poker to Obama’s butt," Barbour said according to the article released Tuesday, “I thought he did what he was supposed to do.”

Political pundits split on Christie's address. Some criticized it for focusing too much on the governor's personal story instead of GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, while others said it was an effective attack on Democratic policies.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R) last week defended Christie's speech, saying he was trying to lay out a "philosophical divide" between the Democratic and Republican tickets.

"I think in Chris's case what they wanted him to do is set out the philosophical divide between the Obama administration and the Romney-Ryan ticket," Giuliani said.

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