Christie: Be 'Very Leery' of 'Sending Another Member of Congress to the White House'

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Friday warned an Illinois crowd to be "very leery" of "sending another member of Congress to the White House."

Christie's words were a not-so-subtle shot at the Republican rivals of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney -- all three of whom are current or past members of Congress -- and a way of equating them with President Barack Obama, who was a U.S. senator before getting elected.

“In our Republican primary, let’s be very leery, very wary of sending another member of Congress to the White House," Christie said according to ABC News. "Now see members of Congress they can be okay, but they don’t know the first thing most of the time about using executive authority. They don’t know the first thing about getting things done."

He continued, “We don’t need Ron Paul, we don’t need Newt Gingrich, and we don’t need Rick Santorum. We need an executive. We need Mitt Romney in the White House.”

Christie, who has been a strong defender of Romney's on the campaign trail, praised his success: "He didn’t just create wealth for himself. He did what American entrepreneurs have done better than any entrepreneurs around the world in the history of the world. He created wealth for himself and he created wealth for lots of other people."

He also took a shot at Obama's community organizer past.

“Do we really want a failure in the White House?” Christie asked. “Let me just tell you this, here’s one set of people I don’t think belong in the White House anymore – community organizers.”

The Illinois primary will be held Tuesday. Polls show Romney leading Santorum by 9 points in one survey and by 6 points in another.

Santorum later brushed off Christie's remarks when speaking to reporters, according to the Tribune Washington Bureau.

"That’s funny, you know, if that’s their best argument for voting for Mitt Romney," Santorum said, adding that Romney "has no experience in international and national security affairs."