In retrospect, Chris Christie’s endorsement of Trump should have been obvious. Christie had made clear over his long career that his long career was never so much about issues and policies as it was about Chris Christie. He would “tell it like it is” only insofar as doing so advanced Chris Christie.

This is the guy who came to Washington, DC, in February 2011, to thunder about the timidity and weakness of Republicans who refused to reform entitlements, and then chose to grow entitlements as governor of New Jersey. He’s the guy who declared in that speech that failing to reform Medicaid would lead to the “ruin” of the country and later chose to expand the program as he sought reelection. He called this Medicaid expansion under Obamacare “extortion” by the federal government and then eagerly agreed to be extorted.

This is the guy who endorsed Mitt Romney for president in the fall of 2011, shortly after announcing he wouldn’t be running himself, and then demanded that the Romney campaign treat him like he was the candidate himself. When Romney offered Christie the most-desired speaking slot at the 2012 Republican National Convention, Christie used to talk extensively about himself (more than three dozen uses of “I”) and to tout the GOP nominee almost in passing (seven mentions).

This is the guy who urged the Senate to confirm Sonia Sotomayor as a Supreme Court Justice when he was running as a moderate for governor of New Jersey in 2009 but pretended he didn’t when he was running as a conservative for president in 2016. When asked about his previous support Christie offered a categorical denial: “I didn’t voice support for Sonia Sotomayor.” But a statement from his office at the time was unambiguous. “I support her appointment to the Supreme Court and urge the Senate to keep politics out of the process and confirm her nomination. Qualified appointees should be confirmed and deserve bi-partisan support. Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Alito deserved that support based on their work as Circuit Court Judges. So does Judge Sotomayor. As a result, I support her confirmation.”