Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Sunday that Donald Trump, also a Republican presidential nominee for 2024, is a “stubborn kid” when it comes to those who disagree with him, particularly his former allies.
The indicted former president recently used his Truth Social platform to anger his former associates and allies, who have criticized him for knowingly storing classified documents in Mar-a-Lago after leaving the White House and attempting to access the national archives prevent you from obtaining these documents. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges brought by a federal grand jury — some of which fall under the Espionage Act.
Among those he prosecuted were former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly and former Attorney General Bill Barr, both of whom recently criticized Trump for mishandling top-secret government documents. In a post, the ex-president said that Kelly was weak and had a “very small brain”. In another post, Trump called Barr a “cheeky pig,” “lazy,” and “totally ineffective.”
Speaking on CNN’s State of the Union, Christie pointed out that the very people Trump berated are the same officials he praised when he hired them during his presidency .
“Look, either Donald Trump – if you believe what he said and when [the officials] left – meaning he didn’t select the very best people and doesn’t know how to select staff. If you believe what he said at the beginning, what great things, this guy is the worst manager in the history of the American presidency,” said the presidential candidate.
“Anyway, Republicans should listen to what he says. He is a testy child when someone disagrees with him. And whether it’s Bill Barr or John Kelly or [former Defense Secretary] Generally [James] Mattis, if that’s the case [former White House official] Mick Mulvaney or whether it… [Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff] Generally [Mark] Milley – when you disagree with Donald Trump, the stubborn kid comes out and berates you with names like the ones you just mentioned and the ones I mentioned.”
Christie was one of over a dozen Republicans running for president in 2016 and became Trump’s first major supporter after leaving. The New Jersey Republican supported Trump in all of his White House controversies, even after the former president infected him with COVID-19 at a pre-debate session in 2020. As a result, Christie spent a week in the hospital’s intensive care unit.
The former New Jersey governor withdrew his support for Trump after the ex-president lied about voter fraud in the 2020 election and incited a crowd of supporters to attack the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Christie, who is now running for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, was one of Trump’s first Republican rivals to take action against him because the Justice Department’s special counsel charged him with 37 felonies related to the classified documents.
The Republican National Committee announced earlier this year that all GOP candidates must sign a pledge of support to participate in primary debates, regardless of whether the candidate is a convicted felon. When asked if he would support Trump if he were nominated, Christie called the idea of a pledge “useless.”
“I will take the promise as seriously as Donald Trump did in 2016. as you will remember [former RNC chair] Reince Priebus had to go to Trump Tower to get him to sign [the pledge]to ask him to. He did,” said the New Jersey Republican.
“And then we went to a subsequent debate and were all asked if we would reiterate our support for the candidate by raising our hand. There were ten of us on stage – nine of us raised our hands. The one who didn’t was Donald Trump. And that is why I will take the promise in 2024 as seriously as Donald Trump took the promise in 2016.”