EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says President Donald Trump's racially fraught comments about "both sides" being to blame for a deadly neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, were "a mistake."

But Christie says he knows Trump isn't a racist.

The Republican governor made the comments Monday during an unrelated event in East Rutherford. Christie says there's not a moral equivalency between neo-Nazis and white supremacists.

Christie is a close political ally of Trump and leads his national drug commission.

Christie just returned from a 10-day vacation and says he hasn't spoken to the president yet.

But he says he'll keep any advice he has for him between Trump and himself.

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