Chris Christie knocks President Obama's inaugural speech

The brief honeymoon between New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and President Obama appears to be over.

The Republican lawmaker slammed Obama's second inaugural address earlier this week, calling it excessively partisan.

“Instead of trying to bring people together it was a manifesto for, ‘Hey, it’s my way or the highway,’ ” Christie said during a radio interview reported by PolitickerNJ.

The governor added that he hoped Obama would make more of an attempt to unify the parties in his second term.

“We’re going to see how he acts moving forward,” Christie said.

The comments were some of the first critical words Christie has lobbed at Obama since the landfall of Hurricane Sandy late last year. In the storm's immediate aftermath, the pair was effusive of one another, pledging to coordinate closely on a storm response.

That embrace, shortly before the presidential election, drew criticism from many Republicans. But it also earned Christie widespread applause in his liberal-leaning home state, where a Quinnipiac poll released earlier this week showed him with a 74 percent approval rating. That spike in popularity appeared to have scared off Newark Mayor Cory Booker from challenging Christie for the governor's mansion next year, making Christie a favorite for reelection. 

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