Story highlights
Chris Christie stumps for fellow Gov. Scott Walker in Wisconsin
Christie dings Walker's opponent, Mary Burke, over a plagiarism scandal
Polls show Walker and Burke are in a close race for governor
First Lady Michelle Obama campaigns for Burke
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie blasted Democrat Mary Burke on Monday, saying the Wisconsin gubernatorial hopeful can’t be trusted after her campaign hired a political consultant who appeared to plagiarize parts of her job plan from other candidates.
“I don’t think they were teaching plagiarism at Harvard Business School. I don’t think they were teaching you to cut and paste other peoples’ work and call it your own,” Christie said at an event for Republican Gov. Scott Walker in Hudson, Wisconsin.
Burke, a former Trek Bicycle executive who has a business degree from Harvard, fired consultant Eric Schnurer earlier this month after BuzzFeed reported that portions of her jobs plan were apparently plagiarized from former candidates in other states.
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“If you can’t trust her honesty and her integrity when she tells you that this is her plan, why would you trust her honesty and integrity on anything else she tells you about what she’ll do for Wisconsin or about Scott’s record?” Christie said. “You shouldn’t trust any of it.”
Burke’s campaign did not return a request for comment from CNN.
Her team added citations to parts of her jobs plan and fired Schnurer. According to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Burke said last week that her jobs plan did not violate her principles.
“When you put together economic development plans, this is about bringing in the best ideas,” she said. “And this is not anything more than bringing good ideas to Wisconsin, to the plans on how I’m going to move Wisconsin forward. And in describing some of these ideas, similar language was used by the consultant that was used in those ideas that he incorporated in other candidates’ plans.”
Walker is in a tight race with his Democratic challenger. A recent poll showed Walker with a slim three-point advantage over Burke.
Christie’s appearance for Walker, a fellow potential contender for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, came the same day as first lady Michelle Obama campaigned for Burke in Milwaukee.
“She is in this for the right reasons,” the first lady said at a rally for Burke. “She cares about people. She doesn’t care about politics.”