Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie delivered a stinging condemnation of former President Donald Trump during a town hall event airing on CNN Monday night.
The Republican presidential candidate spent much of the forum hosted by CNN's Anderson Cooper attacking Trump's character and recent legal strife, who last week became the first former U.S. president to face federal charges. Christie, who endorsed Trump in 2016 after dropping out of the presidential race and worked on the former president's campaign in 2020, is trailing toward the back of a crowded GOP primary lineup before the 2024 election.
Early into the live event, Christie said he believes a second Trump presidency would be "worse" than his first term, and said that Trump has proven that he "doesn't give a damn about the American people."
"I'm convinced that if he goes back to the White House, that the next four years will be all about him just settling scores ... with everybody who he thinks wasn't perfectly nice to him," Christie said. "And the bottom line is, if you're lucky enough to become the president of the United States, every day you should wake up thinking about what to do for the people in this country, not what scores you need to settle for yourself."
The former governor, who served two terms in New Jersey, also offered a much different opinion on the former president's federal indictment than many of his fellow Republicans. After news dropped that Trump is facing 37 criminal charges in connection to the Justice Department's investigation into his handling of classified documents, some of Trump's closest political allies were quick to denounce the probe as politicization, and many of the GOP candidates up against him in the next election said it stemmed from the "weaponization" of the federal government.
Christie, however, said on Monday that Trump was "voluntarily putting our country" through the historical indictment, adding, "None of this had to happen."
"This is vanity run amok ... ego run amok," Christie added. "And he's now going to put this country through this when we didn't have to go through it. Everyone's blaming the prosecutors. He did it, it's his conduct."
Christie also scrutinized President Joe Biden's reelection bid, and argued that both Biden and Trump's age would be a hinderance to their abilities to serve in the White House for another four years.
"If those two people were the nominees, they are going to be a combined 160 years old on Election Day," Christie said. "I'm sorry, guys, nobody beats father time."
"I don't think either one of those people are perfect to be president ... that's why I'm running," he later added. "If those two are candidates, I don't believe there's a winning alternative for America."
Christie entered the 2024 race less than a week ago, and his announcement was met with quick attacks from Trump on his Truth Social account, who called Christie's announcement speech "small" and made fun of the former governor's weight.
A day later, Christie told CNN's Jake Tapper that Trump's mocking "renewed" in his own head that the former president is a "child," adding that Trump doesn't belong in the White House.
Trump had yet to make a public statement about Christie's town hall at the time of publishing. Newsweek has reached out to his press team via email for comment.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Kaitlin Lewis is a Newsweek reporter on the Night Team based in Boston, Massachusetts. Her focus is reporting on national ... Read more
