The issue also brought U.S. Rep. John Lewis of Georgia to Trenton yesterday to take Christie to task for comments linking gay marriage to the civil-rights struggle of the 1960s.
Christie last week vowed to veto any gay-marriage bill that reaches his desk. He instead called for the question to be put to voters in November.
"I think people would have been happy to have a referendum on civil rights, rather than fighting and dying in the streets in the South," Christie said then.
Black leaders pounced. Newark Mayor Cory Booker said that Jackie Robinson would not have had the opportunity to break baseball's color barrier had the matter been put to a vote and that the mayor himself would not have had the opportunity, years later, to be elected to lead New Jersey's largest city. Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver said many felt the sting of Christie's comment.
Gusciora, who is white, said Christie would have found allies in late Alabama Gov. George Wallace and late Georgia Gov. Lester Maddox, both segregationists.
Yesterday, while attempting to clarify what he meant - that civil-rights leaders would have preferred having the option of a popular vote to settle the issue, but it wasn't available to them - Christie called out Gusciora for jumping on his remark and chastised the press for not challenging him on it.
"You have numb-nuts like Reed Gusciora comparing me to George Wallace and Lester Maddox. Now, come on, guys. At some point you've got to be able to call BS on those kinds of press releases," Christie said.
But, Lewis, an icon of the civil-rights movement who appeared with New Jersey Democrats outside the Trenton train station, said that court and congressional actions were necessary to secure rights for blacks, and that no referendum ever would have been successful.
"I've said over the years that I fought too long and too hard against discrimination based on race and color not to stand up and speak out against discrimination based on sexual orientation," Lewis said.
Asked about Lewis' appearance in the city, Christie said: "Congressman Lewis is an American hero. Any time he wants to come to New Jersey, he will be welcomed with open arms. He led an extraordinary movement at great personal risk and sacrifice to himself."
