Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie mocked former President Donald Trump despite trailing behind him by a wide margin.
During an interview with The New York Times, Christie didn’t mince his words and referred to Trump as one “of the most unskilled politicians [he’s] ever met.”
He added that he stands a chance against the former president because they both understand “the New York thing,” which is the mindset and personality that someone from an East Coast city projects. Christie claimed that this was the reason why former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio were unable to defeat Trump.
Christie also addressed Trump’s claim that he won’t attend the first debate because it will be held on Fox News, which he accused the network of giving his rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, more media attention than he was receiving.
The first debate will be held in Milwaukee on August 23. The New Jersey Republican said that Trump will attend “because his ego won’t permit him not to.”
This comes after Christie officially threw his hat into the 2024 presidential ring last month at a town hall meeting in New Hampshire, where he also blasted Trump.
“The person I am talking about who is obsessed with the mirror? Who never admits a mistake? Who never admits a fault and will always find someone else — and something else — to blame for whatever goes wrong, but finds every reason to take credit for anything that goes right, is Donald Trump,” the Republican presidential hopeful told the crowd in Manchester.
Trump, who is also running for president in 2024, fired back at Christie and pointed to the fact that the former New Jersey governor only finished sixth in the state in 2016.
“How many times did Chris Christie use the word SMALL? Does he have a psychological problem with SIZE?” Trump wrote in a TruthSocial post. “Actually, his speech was SMALL, and not very good. It rambled all over the place, and nobody had a clue of what he was talking about.”
Christie previously ran for the Republican nomination in 2016, but after a lackluster performance in New Hampshire, he withdrew from the campaign very early. He was also one of the first ex-candidates to support Trump after withdrawing from the race.
