Gov. Christie Calls Out Islamaphobes

The New Jersey Governor called some sections of the GOP "bigots".

The following video hasn't gotten any attention in the mainstream press, but it has lit a fire on right-wing web sites. 

The shaky, grainy 16-minute speech was shot by an attendee during an Iftar dinner—the evening meal during Ramadan—at the governor's mansion two weeks ago.

"In many publications around this country I'm now called an Islamist," Christie told the crowd of New Jersey Muslims. "Ya know, listen, I've been called worse things—usually on the boardwalk on Seaside Heights. Y'all saw my reaction to that."

It is an extraordinary video, in part because you don't often hear Republicans calling out elements of their own party for being "bigots" against Muslims. The issue of Islamic extremism is wrought with potential political pitfalls, and yet here is a guy on the short-list for GOP vice-presidential nominees who is directly confronting the topic in the backyard of his own house.