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WATCH: Chris Christie – I’m not too fat to be president

Barbara Walters went ahead and addressed the elephant in the room during her recent sit down with Chris Christie: Is he too fat to be president?

The New Jersey governor, who has landed on Walters’ “Most Fascinating People” of 2012 list, was bluntly asked by the veteran TV journalist whether or not his weight would affect a presidential run.

Like a nosy relative, Walters started: “I feel a little uncomfortable asking this question when I’m sitting opposite you…but you are a little overweight.”

“More than a little,” he quickly retorted.

Walters pressed on: “Why?”

“If I could figure that out I’d fix it.”

Walters went on. “There are people who say that you couldn’t be president because you’re so heavy, what do you say to that?”

“No that’s ridiculous. That’s ridiculous,” Christie balked. “I don’t know what’s the basis for this is.”

“I think they are worried about your health,” she explained.

Christie replied, “Well I’ve done this job pretty well. I think people have seen me for the last number of weeks with Hurricane Sandy doing eighteen hour days and getting back up the next day and being just as effective in the job so I don’t think that would really be a problem.”

Weighty issues aside, the governor sits on many Republican short-lists for the next presidential election. Christie brushes off Oval Office ambitions as he is focusing on his current job.

“I don’t know what I’ll feel like in 2016,” he said. “First things first, that was another thing my mother taught me. First things first. First things first is to finish the job I have here.”

Also in the interview, Christie opened up about the backlash he received for praising President Obama’s leadership in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy.

“First of all, I didn’t help [Obama] win,” Christie told Walters. “I was doing my job.”

“The fact of the matter is President Obama won the election pretty comfortably… I was doing my job as I saw fit to do it. And I told the truth, like I always do. The president did step up and help tremendously in New Jersey.”

Watch him talk about his weight below (Christie’s interview comes after Hilary Clinton’s at the 1:50 mark)