Chris Christie draws applause from GOP governors after blaming Trump for election losses

Chris Christie reportedly brought down the house at an annual meeting of Republican governors after he criticized Donald Trump's influence over the party.

The former New Jersey governor blamed Trump for GOP failures in the past three elections, according to three sources in the room and a fourth person with knowledge of the speech who spoke to Axios.

Christie told the gathering that voters had "rejected crazy" in last week's midterm elections, and he said Trump had been an electoral drag on the party in the last three election cycles, pointing out that there had been 31 GOP governors when he stepped down as chair of the Republican Governors Association in 2014, compared to just 26 now.

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He blamed the loss of those three governors on Trump, saying he picked candidates based on personal loyalty, and singled out the Trump-endorsed Doug Mastriano in Pennsylvania as a prime example.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who easily won re-election Nov. 8, was not present, but Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu were all in attendance.