Chris Christie took time out from traveling around in what appears to be his new home of New Hampshire today and returned for his first appearance on Morning Joe in roughly two years. The absence has been noted, since he used to seem to be fairly chummy with Joe Scarborough and the gang, but since Bridgegate he’s been a no show. The appearance has generated some buzz on social media for two comments which came out of the interview. One is the claim that he talked about how he was “a better person” than before the investigation and the other was that he was “calling for an apology” from people now that he feels fully vindicated.

I’m not sure how much weight either of those storylines carry, but I transcribed part of the interview so you can decide for yourself. (No embed video available at this time, sorry.) It begins at the top of the hour and quickly gets to the “better person” comment.

Chris Christie (CC): Listen, I’ve never had trouble getting attention, Joe. So I’m not worried about 14, 15, 16 people. I’ll always get attention, especially if you’re talking about big things. Especially if you’re talking directly to people…

Joe Scarborough (JS): I’ve never heard one Republican, and I’ve talked to a lot of Republicans up there in New Hampshire, I’ve never heard one Republican talking about Bridgegate.

CC: No, they don’t. The only people who ask me about it in New Hampshire is the press who follow me up to New Hampshire. Nobody cares. And here’s why. They don’t care because they know that there’s now been three investigations, all of which said the same thing I said the day after it happened. At some point people say, well, after three investigations, two of them run by folks who are Democrats. A Democratic legislature and a Democratically appointed US Attorney, after a while people just say, okay, I guess he’s telling the truth.

Willie Geist (WG): If you were running against you though, Governor, wouldn’t you make that an issue? Wouldn’t you say this guy had no institutional control of his governor’s office.

CC: No. I think if three people, two of which were in an independent authority, not in the Governor’s office, if people want to make a big deal out of that, if that’s what they’re talking about come January or February, Willie, that means I’m getting somewhere. That means I’ll be fine.

He’s then asked how he feels about the press and if he feels “fortified” and what is his philosophy about the media.

CC: I’m much stronger now than I was before.

JS: Are you more humble?

CC: How couldn’t you be after you go through that? I think otherwise you’re just stupid.

JS: Are you a better candidate because of the hell that you’ve been through for the past couple of years?

CC: I’m a better person.

JS: How?

CC: Because I recognize now who my friends are. I also recognize that when mistakes are made you’ve got to be accountable for them. And in the end I’m better because I’ve been through a really awful time. And I’m upright.

Katty Kay of BBC News then asked the Governor the inevitable question about whether or not the fact that the bridge closure took place indicates that there’s a culture in his office which says that he might turn a blind eye and feel that anything goes so long as he wins. That’s when he gets to the part about the press and his opponents not saying, “we’re sorry.” You can judge for yourself whether or not this sounds like a demand for an apology.

CC: Instead of just standing up and saying, we’re sorry governor, for having jumped to conclusions. We’re sorry for having prejudged this. We’re sorry for not only having accused you, but convicted you, they say now it’s a culture. But it wasn’t a culture, because if it was there would have been a lot more of these incidents. There wouldn’t have been a hundred elected Democrats supporting me for reelection. I wouldn’t have gotten over a third of the Republican vote… 51% of the Hispanic vote if this was a pattern. Exceptions happen. Accidents, mistakes happen. You still have to be accountable for them but it doesn’t mean there was a culture.

I suppose by saying, instead of just standing up and saying we’re sorry, that’s a way of at least implying that they should have. But also, he’s not really talking about the media here. He’s referring to whoever was opposing him, presumably meaning Democrats inside Jersey politics. Of course, it could have included the media as well. Either way, good luck getting an apology out of either.

Does he think he’s a “better person” today? Well, he’s answering the questions, are you more humble and are you a better candidate. That wasn’t the most graceful of answers, but then the guy has never been known for being dangerously self critical in the past. But in the end, this seems to be the pitch he plans on making in New Hampshire (and presumably the rest of the nation if his campaign holds together) when the subject of Bridgegate comes up. He’s clearly going to state that he’s been vindicated, he was right and they were wrong. And if you still want to talk about it you can go ahead and do it as long as you spell his name correctly.

Can’t hurt, I guess. I mean, what else is the guy going to do about it? But if he can’t get his poll numbers out of the ditch in the next month or two it may not matter anyway.