Chris Christie Spurns Joe Biden's First Trip Abroad: 'The Bar Was Low'

Former Republican Governor Chris Christie said that "not much was accomplished, but no damage was done" during President Joe Biden's first trip abroad since taking office at the White House.

Christie, 58, the former governor of New Jersey who ran for the Republican nomination for president in 2016, spoke on Sunday during an appearance on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos.

He was asked about Biden's visits to the U.K, Belgium and Switzerland earlier this month for the G7 and NATO summits, alongside his long-awaited meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his first trip abroad since becoming president on January 20.

The 58-year-old, who now works as a lobbyist, said that Biden avoided making any mistakes during the meetings, but claimed that he didn't feel like the president accomplished any diplomatic breakthroughs.

"In the end, not much was accomplished, but no damage was done," he said. "I think that's probably all they were looking for ... was to come out unscathed. No big mistakes," Christie said on Sunday.

"Come home, and he can say 'America's back.' That's what his point was, and I don't think he did anything that made us believe that we weren't."

Christie then said that he felt Biden didn't need to do much to have a successful trip, saying: "I think the bar was low because he didn't get in conflicts with anybody. There wasn't any kind of difficult moments except for the one with Kaitlan Collins."

He was referring to an incident with Collins, CNN's chief White House correspondent, during a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on Wednesday June 16, at which he appeared to lose his temper with her after she questioned him about his meeting with Putin.

As Biden was leaving the press briefing, Collins asked him why he felt that Putin would treat him differently than he did under their testy relationship when he was vice president, saying: "Why are you so confident he will change his behavior, Mr. President?"

Biden responded: "I'm not confident he'll change his behavior—what the hell, what do you do all the time? When did I say I was confident?" before later apologizing to Collins for his remarks as he prepared to head back to the U.S.

Both leaders spoke positively about the meeting, as Putin told reporters on Thursday that "Biden is a professional, and you need to work very carefully with him so as not to miss something. He himself does not miss anything, I assure you. It was completely obvious to me."

The meeting, which lasted around three hours, was called by Biden to address escalating tensions between the two countries.

Biden also attended the G7 and Nato summits during the trip abroad. Both groups released critical statements on China, calling for an investigation into the origins of COVID in the country and accusing it of engaging in human rights abuses in Xinjiang and Hong Kong.

Newsweek has contacted the White House for comment.