FLEMINGTON, N.J. — Asked for the first time at a town hall meeting about the political payback scandal that’s ensnared his administration, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Thursday that the aide he fired for lying about her involvement would have been dismissed even if she’d told the truth.

The aide, Bridget Kelly, was let go in January after e-mails revealed she set a traffic jam plot in motion with an e-mail saying, “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee,” a New Jersey town at the base of a heavily traveled bridge where the tie-ups were created, apparently for political retribution against a Democrat who didn’t endorse the Republican governor.

Fred Kanter, a Boonton business owner at the town hall, asked the question and told the governor that Kelly should have been fired for the act of tying up traffic, which delayed emergency vehicles, school buses and thousands of commuters.

“If she had told me the truth, she would have been fired too, because of what she did,” Christie replied.

“What happened was absolutely unacceptable,” Christie added, and went on to deny involvement as he has repeatedly.

The scandal has overshadowed Christie’s administration, lowered his poll numbers, stalled his agenda and raised questions about his chances in a 2016 presidential race.