Updated at 1:31 p.m. ET, 5/14/2014
(CNN) - New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said he takes fellow Republican Jeb Bush “at his word” that he hasn’t yet made a decision whether to seek the presidency, and says it would be hard to run against him because of their good relationship.
Appearing on his monthly “Ask the Governor” radio program on New Jersey 101.5 on Tuesday, Christie said that it would be stressful if he and the former Florida governor were in the race at the same time for the 2016 GOP nomination.
[twitter-follow screen_name='politicalticker'][twitter-follow screen_name='danadavidsenCNN']
"It would be stressful because I consider Jeb a friend. And he's been a wonderful friend to me," Christie said.
“You like to run against people that you don’t like,” Christie added, saying that Bush offered him advice on dealing with Superstorm Sandy in 2012.
Christie, whose administration is battling controversy and has not said whether he’ll mount a candidacy, said Bush, like everyone else, has to “determine if he has the fire in the belly to do this.”
Christie said he solidly believes that decisions, Bush's included, on whether to launch a bid for the White House will come after the 2014 midterms.
"I take Jeb at his word, which is he hasn't made a decision about what he wants to do and that it's an intensely personal decision - I agree with that," Christie said. "It's a decision that's going to have a great impact on his family so he's going to have to make sure they're on board if he does it - I agree with that.”
Christie also said that most people he encounters on the road fundraising as chairman of the Republican Governors Association, want to, in his words, talk about their governors and are not focused so much on him.
They say informally, “’If you decide to do it, good luck. We think you’ll be great,’” Christie said, noting he recently returned from an RGA trip to Maine.
He said he enjoyed the trip and “ate a lobster roll on the way out.”
Related: Christie spokesman: I was not involved in ‘idiotic episode’
Update (5/14/2014): Christie said at an event in Washington on Wednesday that he used the word "stressful" because of how the question was asked.
"The interviewer asked if Jeb Bush ran and you ran, would that be stressful or no problem? So I was given a choice between the two," Christie said. "I probably should have said 'Neither, let me tell you what it will be about,' but I don't do that. So I said, well between the two it would be stressful because I like Jeb, I respect him, I consider him a friend...But it won't determine my decision, and I suspect it won't determine his, either."
"The only positive about it would be I know I'd have fun with Jeb on the campaign trail," he continued, adding that they believe in a lot of the same things and have similar approaches to solving problems.
Asked who he didn't like in the Republican field, Christie didn't take the bait.
"I don't want to tell someone I don't like them, and then they turn out not to run," he said. "That would be a wasted 'unlike' wouldn't it?"