Chris Christie news – latest: Ex-governor calls Trump ‘spoiled baby’ after mockery about his weight

Chris Christie is punching back at Donald Trump after the former president responded to his campaign announcement with a juvenile video edit making fun of Mr Christie’s weight.

The former New Jersey governor appeared on CNN on Wednesday after launching his campaign with a town hall event at St Anselm College a night earlier in Manchester, New Hampshire.

“It’s so juvenile. He is such a spoiled baby,” Mr Christie said.

This is the second time Mr Christie has made a bid for the White House, the first being in 2016 when he lost to former president Donald Trump.

Though Mr Christie lent his support to Mr Trump in 2016 when he dropped out of the race, he has since changed his opinion of the former president and become a vocal critic.

That was evident on Tuesday, as he denounced his former ally as a corrupt narcissist and vowed to draw blood in his quest for the Republican nomination. He did so several times during the town hall event, notably by tearing into the former president’s family for “breathtaking” levels of corruption and “grift”, which he said had followed them through the White House and beyond.

Key Points

• Chris Christie files paperwork to launch long-shot 2024 bid

• Christie tears into Trumps: ‘The grift from this family is breathtaking’

• Candidate sets up bitter 2024 battle with Trump

• Christie’s feud with Kushner family explained

• Chris Christie: From Trump-ally to challenger

Who is running for president in 2024?

Tuesday 6 June 2023 22:00 , Ariana Baio

As former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie enters the race for president, here’s who else has thrown their hat in the ring.

Andrew Feinberg and Ariana Baio report:

Who is running for president in 2024?

Chris Christie polling around 1 per cent

Tuesday 6 June 2023 22:30 , Ariana Baio

National polls have former New Jersey governor and recent GOP candidate Chris Christie polling around one per cent.

A Fox News poll from May showed current frontrunner Donald Trump received 53 per cent of support and Ron DeSantis 20 per cent. Mr Christie had about one per cent along with Larry Elder.

Similarly, a CNN poll from late May showed Mr Christie holding one or less than one per cent.

The polling numbers will likely change after Mr Christie formally announces his campaign, though some are not convinced it will be enough for Mr Christie to earn a place in the White House.

Chris Christie takes the stage at campaign launch event

Tuesday 6 June 2023 23:36 , John Bowden

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has just taken the stage at St Anselm college, where he is launching his 2024 campaign for president with a town hall event.

Watch along here:

Christie: Obama, Biden and Trump made America ‘smaller’

Tuesday 6 June 2023 23:43 , John Bowden

Chris Christie lashed out at the past three presidents of the United States in his campaign launch Monday evening, blaming the men for making the United States “smaller” and dividing Americans into groups.

Barack Obama, he said, “divided” America. Donald Trump divided the country “even further”. And Joe Biden ran on bringing the country together, before according to Mr Christie pitting his party against Republicans and painting the GOP with one brush.

Ex-governor references ‘BridgeGate’ scandal in remarks

Wednesday 7 June 2023 00:00 , John Bowden

Speaking to voters in New Hampshire, Chris Christie made it clear he was not shying away from questions about the ‘BridgeGate’ scandal that consumed the final months of his tenure in office.

Explaining that he trusted people whom he should not have, the governor explained: “It resulted in me being at one point in my career admitting that I was publicly embarrassed and humiliated by the things that had happened on my watch.”

Christie attacks Donald Trump, and those who won't

Wednesday 7 June 2023 00:03 , John Bowden

Calling him a man “obsessed with the mirror” and unwilling to admit his own mistakes, Mr Christie entered into the conclusion of his remarks on Tuesday with a pointed attack aimed at Donald Trump.

Mr Christie also lashed out at Republicans like Ron DeSantis and his other rivals for the 2024 nomination, who he said were afraid to name their enemy as if he was “Voldemort” from the Harry Potter franchise.

“Beware of the leader in this country who has never made a mistake. Who has never done anything wrong. Who when something goes wrong it’s someone else’s fault,” said Mr Christie.

Trump lashes out on Truth Social

Wednesday 7 June 2023 00:31 , John Bowden

Donald Trump attacked his newest primary rival as Chris Christie’s town hall campaign launch unfolded Tuesday evening.

“How many times did Chris Christie use the word SMALL? Does he have a psychological problem with SIZE? 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,” he wrote on Truth Social.

“Hard to watch, boring, but that’s what you get from a failed Governor (New Jersey) who left office with a 7% approval rating and then got run out of New Hampshire. This time, it won’t be any different!” Mr Trump added.

A look back on Chris Christie’s 2016 campaign

Wednesday 7 June 2023 01:00 , John Bowden

As former governor Chris Christie prepares to launch his 2024 presidential campaign in New Hampshire on Tuesday, many are reminded of his first go at the White House in 2015.

“America has been a nation that has always controlled events and yet today events control us. Why? Because leadership matters,” Mr Christie wrote in a post on his Facebook wall in 2015 . “It matters if we want to restore America’s role in the world, find the political will to take on the entrenched special interests that continually stand in the way of fundamental change, reform entitlement spending at every level of government, and ensure that every child, no matter their zip code, has access to a quality education.”

Here is a look back at Mr Christie’s campaign for president from The Independent:

Jeb Bush, Sarah Palin, Donald Trump... and now we have another possible candidate for presidential nominee

Christie sets up bitter 2024 battle with Trump

Wednesday 7 June 2023 01:26 , John Bowden

The battle for the Republican nomination just got a whole lot messier.

That was the defining message of former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s campaign launch on Tuesday: Get ready for blood.

Calling out his opponents by name, deconstructing their campaign slogans and clever quips — Chris Christie was in prime form on Tuesday evening at St Anselm College in New Hampshire, where he addressed a small crowd of voters in a town hall-style event and put his sights clear on his top rival, Donald Trump.

Mr Christie spoke at length before taking questions from his guests. In his remarks throughout the event, he remained plain-spoken and sharp-tongued while denouncing the four years of his rival’s presidency as an utter failure and little more than an opportunity for “breathtaking” levels of corruption and “grift” carried out by the Trump family.

Read more:

Chris Christie lashes out at Trump family’s ‘breathtaking grift’ – live

Christie wraps up first 2024 event

Wednesday 7 June 2023 01:54 , John Bowden

Chris Christie’s first 2024 presidential campaign event has ended, following a whirlwind two hours of remarks and questions with the former New Jersey governor.

Follow all of The Independent’s live coverage of the 2024 race here, and be sure to join us again later in the week as the contest heats up with more appearances from GOP candidate including Ron DeSantis.

Christie rips into Trump family

Wednesday 7 June 2023 03:17 , John Bowden

Speaking about Donald Trump’s tenure in the White House, Mr Christie’s most scathing remark of the night was aimed at the entire Trump family as a whole.

"The grift from this family is breathtaking. Jared Kushner and Ivanka Kushner walk out of the White House, and months later, it turns out, they get $2 billion from the Saudis?” Mr Christie asked.

“That makes us a banana republic,” he added.

Next big Christie event: A CNN town hall

Wednesday 7 June 2023 04:15 , John Bowden

Chris Christie will return for another town hall event next week — this time moderated by CNN, which has hosted both Donald Trump and Nikki Haley for similar events in recent days.

Christie hits Trump for adding to debt — but so did congressional Republicans

Wednesday 7 June 2023 06:15 , John Bowden

One of Chris Christie’s attacks aimed at Donald Trump Tuesday evening hinged on the issue of the debt, which jumped under the Trump administration in large part due to the Covid-19 pandemic as well as a major tax cut passed in 2017.

The problem? While Mr Trump certainly was the one who signed that bill into law, it was Republicans in Congress — the same ones who he hopes will be his allies during a 2024 run — who voted for it.

Chris Christie fires back at Marco Rubio after town hall

Wednesday 7 June 2023 08:15 , John Bowden

After Senator Marco Rubio complained on Twitter that journalists were labeling Mr Christie responsible for the downfall of his 2016 campaign, the governor was ready with a response.

“We didn’t bring it up, but we know exactly what we are doing. Donate at http://chrischristie.com to give me a chance to do this to Trump on the debate stage,” wrote the ex-governor.

Christie wins praise from Democrats for Trump attacks

Wednesday 7 June 2023 10:15 , John Bowden

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie had at least a few fans on social media Tuesday evening as he laid into Donald Trump: Democrats.

“I don’t always retweet GOP Presidential candidates. But when I do, I prefer retweeting Chris Christie,” wrote Rep Ted Lieu, a California lawmaker.

Medhi Hasan, a left-leaning commentator on MSNBC, added: “Christie’s a hypocrite on Trump but, I won’t lie, I’m still enjoying this. Not sure his audience is, but I am.”

Trump lashes out at Chris Christie

Wednesday 7 June 2023 11:15 , Joe Sommerlad

As you might have expected, Donald Trump was hardly likely to let Christie’s attacks on his “grifter” family unchallenged.

Here’s what he had to say in his latest feverish post to Truth Social:

“How many times did Chris Christie use the word SMALL? Does he have a psychological problem with SIZE? 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. Hard to watch, boring, but that’s what you get from a failed Governor (New Jersey) who left office with a 7% approval rating and then got run out of New Hampshire. This time, it won’t be any different!”

Christie: Trump would ‘give Ukraine to Russia’ to end war

Wednesday 7 June 2023 12:15 , John Bowden

Mr Christie explained on Tuesday what he said was the true meaning behind Donald Trump’s boasting of his supposed ability to end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours, were the latter to be elected president again.

Speaking to voters, he argued: "Let me tell you how he would. He'd give Ukraine to Russia.”

VOICES: Chris Christie gave Trump legitimacy. Now he can’t stop Trump in 2024

Wednesday 7 June 2023 13:15 , John Bowden

Chris Christie is officially running for president. But out of office for several years, and having suffered a humiliating defeat in the 2016 primary, The Independent’s Eric Garcia asks: Is his time of relevance over?

Read more:

Chris Christie gave Trump legitimacy. Now he can’t stop Trump in 2024

Christie sets up bitter 2024 battle with Trump

Wednesday 7 June 2023 14:15 , John Bowden

The battle for the Republican nomination just got a whole lot messier.

That was the defining message of former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s campaign launch on Tuesday: Get ready for blood.

Calling out his opponents by name, deconstructing their campaign slogans and clever quips — Chris Christie was in prime form on Tuesday evening at St Anselm College in New Hampshire, where he addressed a small crowd of voters in a town hall-style event and put his sights clear on his top rival, Donald Trump.

Mr Christie spoke at length before taking questions from his guests. In his remarks throughout the event, he remained plain-spoken and sharp-tongued while denouncing the four years of his rival’s presidency as an utter failure and little more than an opportunity for “breathtaking” levels of corruption and “grift” carried out by the Trump family.

Read more:

Chris Christie targets his former friend Trump as he sets up bitter 2024 battle

Trump ridicules Chris Christie’s weight in edited 2024 campaign launch video

Wednesday 7 June 2023 15:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Donald Trump fired off a nasty buffet video of Chris Christie after the former governor attacked Ivanka Trump at his 2024 campaign launch.

The former president shared a video created by Twitter users @NautPoso and @drefanzor which was crudely edited to make it appear as if the ex-New Jersey governor was starting his campaign at an all-you-can-buffet holding a plate of food.

Mr Trump shared the video not long after taking another shot at Mr Christie’s weight.

“How many times did Chris Christie use the word SMALL? Does he have a psychological problem with SIZE? Actually, his speech was SMALL, and not very good,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social. “It rambled all over the place, and nobody had a clue of what he was talking about. Hard to watch, boring, but that’s what you get from a failed Governor (New Jersey) who left office with a 7% approval rating and then got run out of New Hampshire. This time, it won’t be any different!”

Mr Christe has faced a litany of jokes about his weight in the last few weeks from outlets such as Newsmax and Fox News. Fox host Greg Gutfeld took part in the mockery, as did network anchor John Roberts who said the former governor “could drink a lot the milkshake if he wanted to” because of his “physical stature”.

Read more:

Trump ridicules Chris Christie’s weight in edited 2024 campaign launch video

From Trump-ally to challenger

Wednesday 7 June 2023 16:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Mr Christie became the first establishment Republican to endorse Mr Trump after dropping out of the 2016 primary. He was for a time in charge of Mr Trump’s presidential transition and was also considered for roles such as vice president and attorney general, ideas which were vetoed by Mr Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

After being an ally of the president and supporting him in both the 2016 and 2020 elections, Mr Christie has now become one of his harshest critics. Last year, Mr Trump posted an image of Mr Christie at a buffet with the caption “Chris Christie at a Roy Rogers at 11 PM in the evening trying to console himself”.

Christie’s feud with Kushner family

Wednesday 7 June 2023 17:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Mr Trump’s meme-sharing comes after Mr Christie went after Ms Trump and Mr Kushner.

The Kushner family has been in a decades-long feud with Mr Christie. When he was serving as a US Attorney in New Jersey in 2004, Mr Christie prosecuted Mr Kushner’s father, Charles Kushner, who ended up pleading guilty to “16 counts of assisting in the filing of false tax returns, one count of retaliating against a cooperating witness and one count of making false statements to the Federal Election Commission,” according to a statement from the Department of Justice.

Mr Trump pardoned Charles Kushner in 2020.

‘The grift from this family is breathtaking’

Wednesday 7 June 2023 18:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Calling Mr Trump a “self-serving mirror hog” during his 2024 campaign launch, Mr Christie went on to say that “the grift from this family is breathtaking”.

“Jared Kushner and Ivanka Kushner walk out of the White House and months later get $2bn from the Saudis. $2bn from the Saudis,” he added. “You think it’s because he’s some kind of investing genius? Or do you think it’s because he was sitting next to the President of the United States for four years doing favours for the Saudis?”

The investment fund of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman entered a deal with Mr Kushner’s Affinity Partners six months after Mr Kushner left the White House, prompting ethics concerns, according to The New York Times.

“That’s your money,” Mr Christie told the audience in New Hampshire. “That’s your money he stole and gave it to his family. You know what that makes us? A banana republic. That’s what it makes us.”

Chris Christie files paperwork to launch long-shot 2024 bid

Wednesday 7 June 2023 19:00 , John Bowden

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has filed paperwork to launch his 2024 presidential bid.

Mr Christie, who faces long odds in the competition for the GOP nomination, is expected to formally kick off his campaign during a town hall in New Hampshire.

Mr Christie plans to focus on the Granite State, an early primary state that he hopes will help give his campaign momentum. Former President Donald Trump, meanwhile, leads the increasingly crowded GOP field. But Mr Christie will look to position himself as a more moderate alternative to Mr Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who recently launched his own GOP presidential bid.

Read more:

Chris Christie files paperwork to launch long-shot 2024 bid

Christie appeared to be in the running for an administration post in Trump’s government

Wednesday 7 June 2023 20:00 , John Bowden

At one point, Mr Christie appeared to be in the running for an administration post in Mr Trump’s government, rumoured to be a top contender for the positions of attorney general or potentially secretary of state. But the former governor has since become a vocal critic of the former president, who faces criminal charges in New York City and the prospect of additional charges at the federal level and in Georgia.

In the days immediately following January 6, he urged his fellow Republicans to impeach the president for whom he had once considered working, on the grounds of inciting an insurrection — a highly serious charge that ended up going further than even the select committee formed to investigate the attack would later recommend in its referral to the Department of Justice.

‘You better have somebody on that stage who can do to him what I did to Marco'

Wednesday 7 June 2023 21:00 , John Bowden

Just as recently as March, the ex-governor was laying out what he believed was necessary to stop Mr Trump from attaining the GOP nomination, something many in the party’s donor class are hoping to avoid given the president’s performance in 2020 and the woeful showing by the Republican Party in the 2022 midterms.

“You better have somebody on that stage who can do to him what I did to Marco [Rubio], because that’s the only thing that’s gonna defeat Donald Trump,” he said at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College. “And that means you have to be fearless, because he will come back, and right at you.”

His comments referred to the infamous moment during a February 2016 Republican debate wherein Mr Christie battled a then-surging Senator Marco Rubio onstage — in a series of brutal takedowns, the governor deconstructed his opponent’s debating approach and eviscerated it, leaving the crowd jeering as the senator attempted to respond.

It was a moment that quickly cemented itself in political debating history, but ultimately proved next to meaningless given that both men would be utterly overwhelmed in the contest by another man on the stage that night: Donald Trump.

And it remains unclear whether that same mastery of the debate stage demonstrated by Mr Christie will serve him well against Mr Trump. In one famous instance from the 2020 contests, Mr Trump bullied his way through an initial debate with now-President Joe Biden, talking over his opponent and ignoring the rules and moderator.

Fox News host apologises for ‘milkshake’ Chris Christie comment

Wednesday 7 June 2023 21:30 , Graeme Massie

A Fox News host has apologised after making a barbed remark about Chris Christie’s weight and his ability to down a milkshake.

John Roberts mocked the former New Jersey governor as he discussed his entry into the 2024 presidential race on the right-wing channel’s show America Reports.

Roberts made the comment as he compared the fight for the Republican nomination to two milkshakes, one being drunk by Donald Trump and the other by the remaining candidates.

“The other milkshake, which represents the non-Donald Trump part of the Republican Party, has how many straws in it now? And now we’re gonna have Chris Christie’s straw in there, and judging by Chris Christie’s physical stature, he could drink a lot of the milkshake if he wanted to. But you’re not affecting the Donald Trump milkshake,” he said.

Read more:

Fox News host apologises for ‘milkshake’ Chris Christie comment

Christie’s chances of winning the GOP nomination are slim

Wednesday 7 June 2023 22:00 , John Bowden

Matching Mr Trump’s energy both onstage and off has turned into a major challenge for Republicans, including both those who seek to end his dominance of the GOP and those who wish to emulate his style for their own gain.

Though Mr Christie is a veteran of the presidential campaign universe, his chances of winning the GOP nomination are slim. He is currently polling around 1 percent in surveys of the Republican field which include him; the vast majority of voters are currently aligned behind Mr Trump and his second-place challenger, Florida’s Ron DeSantis.

Christie argues 2024 is different from 2016

Wednesday 7 June 2023 22:30 , Gustaf Kilander

VIDEO: Chris Christie launches presidential campaign

Wednesday 7 June 2023 23:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Chris Christie targets his ‘divisive’ former friend Donald Trump as he sets up bitter 2024 battle

Thursday 8 June 2023 00:00 , John Bowden

The battle for the Republican nomination just got a whole lot messier.

That was the defining message of former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s campaign launch on Tuesday: get ready for blood.

Calling out his opponents by name, deconstructing their campaign slogans and clever quips — Chris Christie was in prime form on Tuesday evening at St Anselm College in New Hampshire, where he addressed a small crowd of voters in a town hall-style event and put his sights clear on his top rival, Donald Trump.

Read more:

Chris Christie targets his former friend Trump as he sets up bitter 2024 battle

Trump is a ‘self-consumed, self-serving, mirror hog,’ Christie says

Thursday 8 June 2023 01:00 , John Bowden

Mr Christie spoke at length before taking questions from his guests. In his remarks throughout the event, he remained plain-spoken and sharp-tongued while denouncing the four years of his rival’s presidency as an utter failure and little more than an opportunity for “breathtaking” levels of corruption and “grift” carried out by the Trump family.

He called the man he twice supported for the White House a “self-consumed, self-serving, mirror hog”, and said that Americans now had four years’ worth of a record with which to judge the former president.

Christie blasts rivals unwilling to slam Trump

Thursday 8 June 2023 02:00 , John Bowden

Mr Christie made clear during his launch that he has little patience for his other rivals, those like Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley and Tim Scott, who have thus far played coy with their thoughts regarding the former president and his legacy.

He even torched Trump family members Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump for receiving a $2bn investment from a Saudi firm into one controlled by Mr Kushner just a short time after they left the White House, deriding it as evidence of a corrupt relationship.

“The grift from this family is breathtaking. Jared Kushner and Ivanka Kushner walk out of the White House, and months later, it turns out, they get $2bn from the Saudis?” said Mr Christie.

“That makes us a banana republic,” he added.

It was comments like that — plus his effortless deconstruction of calls from his rivals to ignore leaders who don’t “look forward”, and their calls for “generational change” — that outlined Mr Christie’s strengths as a politician and in-person campaigner.

Christie eager to get into a brawl with his opponents

Thursday 8 June 2023 03:00 , John Bowden

Whether Mr Christie’s fiery comments will translate into votes for his candidacy, rather than just the destruction of his foes, is not yet evident. But what is evident is the eagerness of Mr Christie to get into a brawl with his opponents, a trait so far only shared by Mr Trump himself.

That similarity was picked up on by one questioner, who identified herself as a clinical psychologist concerned about a nation “traumatised” by constant anger and divisiveness. Mr Christie responded that his brash nature and willingness to throw punches at his opponents was a strength only because it was supposedly paired with a humility and willingness to admit his own mistakes that made him a good leader.

It was at least the outline of an effective campaign, if one light on actual policy. The governor did touch on a few national issues, such as when he expressed his opposition to federal efforts to ban abortion — unless, he conceded, there was real support in Congress for it — as well as when he touched on the issue of Ukraine, and labeled Republican rivals Vivek Ramaswamy and Ron DeSantis the “Neville Chamberlains” of the 2024 race for their supposed willingness to give endless concessions to a dictator.

‘Joe Biden never beat anybody outside the state of Delaware in 45 years except for one guy – Donald J Trump’

Thursday 8 June 2023 04:00 , John Bowden

For the most part, Mr Christie focused on his real advantages as a candidate: The fiery personality that won him both praise and criticism in New Jersey, and a willingness to spar with his opponents at a surgical level. He laid the blame for Joe Biden’s 2020 victory at his opponent’s feet, calling the now-president a weak politician who had gone up against a hopelessly-damaged candidate.

“He wouldn’t be in office if it wasn’t for Trump. Joe Biden never beat anybody outside the state of Delaware in 45 years except for one guy Donald J. Trump...not once, until he ran up against the guy who the American people knew in their heart was full of it,” said the ex-governor.

Trump and Rubio respond to Christie launch

Thursday 8 June 2023 05:00 , John Bowden

Despite his insistence on Truth Social that he was not worried about the entrance of his former ally into the race, Donald Trump clearly had Chris Christie on his mind Tuesday evening as he blasted out commentary from his social media platform.

“How many times did Chris Christie use the word SMALL? Does he have a psychological problem with SIZE? 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. Hard to watch, boring, but that’s what you get from a failed Governor (New Jersey) who left office with a 7% approval rating and then got run out of New Hampshire. This time, it won’t be any different!” Mr Trump wrote.

So too did Marco Rubio, Christie’s unfortunate victim in 2016, who lamely insisted in his own tweet that the New Jersey governor’s onstage humiliation of him had not contributed to his downfall.

Chris Christie hits back at Trump’s mockery over his weight: ‘He’s such a spoiled baby’

Thursday 8 June 2023 21:18 , John Bowden

Chris Christie is punching back at Donald Trump after the former president responded to his campaign announcement with a juvenile video edit making fun of Mr Christie’s weight.

The former New Jersey governor appeared on CNN on Wednesday after launching his campaign with a town hall event at St Anselm College a night earlier.

During his interview, he was questioned by The Lead host Jake Tapper about a video Mr Trump posted on Truth Social of Mr Christie delivering remarks edited to appear as if the candidate is holding a plate of food while he talks.

Read more:

Chris Christie hits back at Trump’s mockery over his weight: ‘Such a spoiled baby’

Chris Christie is in the GOP primary to win it all

Thursday 8 June 2023 06:00 , John Bowden

If there was one takeaway from Tuesday night’s event, it was this: Chris Christie is in the GOP primary to win it all, and he plans to do so by setting himself apart from his fellows as a bold, unflinching truthteller — ironically, the same reputation that Donald Trump constructed for himself in 2016.

Whether his newfound courage will be enough to convince his potential voters to break away from the man whom the governor admitted tonight to supporting in two presidential elections? That’s another story.

California Democrat says out of GOP primary field, he prefers ‘retweeting Chris Christie’

Thursday 8 June 2023 07:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Don Jr joins father in mocking Christie’s weight

Thursday 8 June 2023 08:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Trump ridicules Chris Christie’s weight in edited 2024 campaign launch video

VOICES: Chris Christie gave Trump legitimacy. Now he can’t stop Trump in 2024

Thursday 8 June 2023 09:00 , Eric Garcia

Running for president is as much about timing as anything else. When Barack Obama ran, Ted Kennedy, the patriarch of the Kennedy clan who had a failed White House run under his belt, notably told the would-be president: “You don’t choose the time. The time chooses you.”

The 2012 presidential race was likely Chris Christie’s time. In 2009, he won the governorship in staunchly Democratic New Jersey and had become a favorite of conservatives for his willingness to combat teachers’ unions and other Democratic groups in moments that went viral in the right-wing media ecosystem. It was “owning the libs” before “owning the libs” was a thing.

Read more:

Chris Christie gave Trump legitimacy. Now he can’t stop Trump in 2024

Christie in 2011: ‘Now is not my time'

Thursday 8 June 2023 10:00 , Eric Garcia

Mr Christie notably passed on running for the nomination to challenge Mr Obama, saying in 2011, “Now is not my time.”

At the time, the move seemed prudent. In the weeks before the 2012 election, he led the state during Hurricane Sandy and while images of him hugging Mr Obama angered conservatives in the weeks before voters cast their ballots, it led to him winning re-election in 2013 by overwhelming margins.

Revelations that members of Mr Christie’s team ordered two of the three lanes on the George Washington Bridge to be closed, which caused a massive traffic jam, cratered the governor’s numbers.

Christie gave Republicans permission to support Donald Trump

Thursday 8 June 2023 11:00 , Eric Garcia

Mr Christie entered the 2016 Republican primary badly bruised from the George Washington Bridge scandal. He left the contest after a poor showing in the New Hampshire primary, but not before infamously performing a kamikaze mission on Sen Marco Rubio (R-FL) in one of the debates that made the one-time conservative phenom seem rehearsed and someone who could not deviate from his prepared lines.

In the following days, Mr Christie endorsed Donald Trump, rarely leaving his side at one point was considered to be a potential running-mate or attorney general in a Trump administration, an idea vetoed by Jared Kushner. Nonetheless, Mr Christie’s endorsement of the future president lent him credibility and gave Republicans something they needed to cast their ballot for the reality television star who had never held public office before – permission.

Christie has not held a position for years in a radically changed GOP

Thursday 8 June 2023 12:00 , Eric Garcia

Mr Christie has announced another quixotic White House run. As an elected official who left his office in disgrace and who has not held a position for years in a radically changed GOP, Mr Christie is unlikely to win. But most observers see his run as an attempt to stop Mr Trump from winning again.

Republicans are about as likely to receive his message warning about the perils of another Trump presidency as they would be likely to receive the message from Liz Cheney.

Indeed, many other Republican presidential candidates face the very same problem. As McKay Coppins at The Atlantic has noted, former vice president Mike Pence spent years convincing evangelical Christian voters that they could support Mr Trump despite his character shortcomings. Mr Trump’s conduct would be immaterial as long as he enacted an agenda they wanted and he would nominate the right judges, which he did when he picked the Supreme Court jurists who helped overturn Roe v Wade. But now Mr Pence finds himself in a bind because personal decency isn’t seen as a reason he’d be a better option than Mr Trump.

Christie sets up bitter 2024 battle with Trump

Thursday 8 June 2023 13:00 , John Bowden

The battle for the Republican nomination is now a whole lot messier.

That was the defining message of former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s campaign launch on Tuesday: Get ready for blood.

Calling out his opponents by name, deconstructing their campaign slogans and clever quips — Chris Christie was in prime form on Tuesday evening at St Anselm College in New Hampshire, where he addressed a small crowd of voters in a town hall-style event and put his sights clear on his top rival, Donald Trump.

Mr Christie spoke at length before taking questions from his guests. In his remarks throughout the event, he remained plain-spoken and sharp-tongued while denouncing the four years of his rival’s presidency as an utter failure and little more than an opportunity for “breathtaking” levels of corruption and “grift” carried out by the Trump family.

Read more:

Chris Christie targets his former friend Trump as he sets up bitter 2024 battle

Trump ridicules Chris Christie’s weight in edited 2024 campaign launch video

Thursday 8 June 2023 14:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Donald Trump fired off a nasty buffet video of Chris Christie after the former governor attacked Ivanka Trump at his 2024 campaign launch.

The former president shared a video created by Twitter users @NautPoso and @drefanzor which was crudely edited to make it appear as if the ex-New Jersey governor was starting his campaign at an all-you-can-buffet holding a plate of food.

Mr Trump shared the video not long after taking another shot at Mr Christie’s weight.

“How many times did Chris Christie use the word SMALL? Does he have a psychological problem with SIZE? Actually, his speech was SMALL, and not very good,” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social. “It rambled all over the place, and nobody had a clue of what he was talking about. Hard to watch, boring, but that’s what you get from a failed Governor (New Jersey) who left office with a 7% approval rating and then got run out of New Hampshire. This time, it won’t be any different!”

Mr Christe has faced a litany of jokes about his weight in the last few weeks from outlets such as Newsmax and Fox News. Fox host Greg Gutfeld took part in the mockery, as did network anchor John Roberts who said the former governor “could drink a lot the milkshake if he wanted to” because of his “physical stature”.

Read more:

Trump ridicules Chris Christie’s weight in edited 2024 campaign launch video

Christie blasted for past comments about Trump as he campaigns on taking down ex-president

Thursday 8 June 2023 14:30 , Gustaf Kilander

The Republican presidential field is largely set. Here are takeaways on where the contest stands.

Thursday 8 June 2023 15:00 , Steve Peoples, AP

After a trio of new announcements this week, the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential field is all but set.

A handful of stragglers may jump in later, but as of now there are at least 10 high-profile Republican candidates officially seeking their party’s nomination. And with the announcement phase of the primary campaign largely over, several leading Republican contenders will gather in North Carolina this weekend to begin a more aggressive sorting period.

It will be a long road to the GOP’s national convention in Milwaukee next summer when Republican delegates across the country gather to finalize their nominee to run against President Joe Biden. Surprises are guaranteed. Fortunes will change. But as of now, every Republican White House hopeful is looking up at former President Donald Trump, who is the undisputed frontrunner in the crowded contest.

Here are some takeaways on where the Republican contest stands:

The Republican presidential field is largely set. Here are takeaways on where the contest stands.

Christie calls Trump a ‘spoiled baby’ after ex-president mocks his weight

Thursday 8 June 2023 15:30 , Gustaf Kilander

On Wednesday night, Mr Christie responded to Mr Trump’s mockery regarding his weight.

“Breaking news... I have struggled with my weight for 20 years. What I haven’t struggled with is my character. I’ll put that up against Donald Trump’s any day. If that’s the best he’s got, then he’s lost his fastball,” Mr Christie tweeted.

Further slamming the ex-president, the former New Jersey governor wrote: “When a spoiled baby misbehaves, you send them to their room, not the White House. At his advanced age, it is time to give up hope that Trump will ever grow up. We need a leader, not a child.”

Mr Christie shared footage of his appearance on CNN where he responded to Mr Trump mocking his weight.

‘There is one lane to the Republican nomination and he’s in front of it'

Thursday 8 June 2023 16:00 , Steve Peoples, AP

Christie may be the most vocal Trump critic in the race, although he hasn’t held office in more than five years.

“I’m going out there to take out Donald Trump,” the former New Jersey governor told New Hampshire voters this week. “But here’s why: I want to win, and I don’t want him to win. ... There is one lane to the Republican nomination and he’s in front of it.”

Christie and his fellow Trump-challengers push message of being ‘tired of losing’

Thursday 8 June 2023 16:30 , Gustaf Kilander

Mr Christie appeared on Fox & Friends on Thursday, slamming the political losses for the GOP under the leadership of Mr Trrump.

“I believe the Republican Party has been losing now for nearly seven years. After Donald Trump’s win in 2016 — which I was a large part of — we haven’t been able to win anything since then,” the former governor said.

“Lost the House in 2018, lost the Senate and the White House in 2020, those Georgia senate seats in early 2021, and we horribly underperformed in 2022. Lost governorships, lost a senate seat and barely won the House of Representatives when everyone thought we would be at 240 or 250 seats. So we’re tired of losing!” he added.

It’s a similar message put forward by other Republicans in the race, such as Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis, who are trying to win over Trump voters without, unlike Mr Christie, criticising Mr Trump too harshly.

But it may be a difficult message to send as many Trump voters believe his lies about the 2020 election being fraudulent and that he didn’t really lose.

‘I’m not trying to save the party,’ Christie

Thursday 8 June 2023 17:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Mr Christie was asked if he’s trying to “save” the GOP during his Fox News appearance on Thursday morning.

“If the person at the top gets all the credit when things go well, they must also be accountable for what happens when things go badly. And the fact is that Donald Trump, the candidates he picked in these individual states and endorsed all lost. And lost big races,” he said in reference to the GOP’s lacklustre performance in recent elections.

“I’m not trying to save the party,” the former governor added. “What I want the party to get back to doing is what we do best, which is to win and then implement smart, conservative policies for the entire country.”

Christie slams Trump on classified files: ‘Return the documents and stop doing this!'

Thursday 8 June 2023 17:30 , Gustaf Kilander

During his Fox News appearance on Thursday, Mr Christie was asked about the investigation into Mr Trump’s handling of classified documents and the documents found at the home and office of President Joe Biden.

As Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade attempted to suggest there was a double standard, Mr Christie pushed back.

Mr Kilmeade said that “the one thing that looms over are these court cases, the ridiculous one with Alvin Bragg in New York City and now Trump attorneys have been notified that the former president is a target of a criminal investigation over his handling of those classified documents at Mar-a-Lago”.

“We know William Barr thinks this is a strong case. I also see a huge double standard. You got classified documents all over Joe Biden’s house, offices ... garage. Do you believe that what Donald Trump has done, from what you know, is criminal?” the host asked, according to Mediaite.

“The problem with all of this is that it’s self-inflicted,” Mr Christie said. “I don’t know that the government even knew that Joe Biden had those documents or not.”

“But they did know Donald Trump did,” he added, saying that they requested that Mr Trump voluntarily hand them over “for over a year and a quarter, and got them back in dribs and drabs”.

“If in fact, you’re keeping those things knowingly, even after the government has asked for you to bring them back, the excuses about, ‘oh, they were classified, declassified automatically when I left the office’. Well, that’s just wrong! I mean, I know that as a legal matter,” the ex-governor said.

“These are all self-inflicted wounds. Return the documents and stop doing this!” he added.

“Why do you have to be the centre of negative attention all the time? Why do you have to be angry all the time?” he asked in reference to Mr Trump.

Mr Christie said Mr Trump would have to carry the “weight” of his indictments into a general election if he ends up being the GOP nominee. “Why do we want to take that risk?”

Ethics expert says Christie must explain how he secured Trump pardon for New Jersey Republican

Thursday 8 June 2023 18:00 , Gustaf Kilander

An ethics expert has said that Chris Christie must explain how he secured a pardon for a fellow New Jersey Republican from Mr Trump during his last day in the White House.

While Mr Christie has claimed that he hasn’t spoken to Mr Trump since before the January 6, 2021 insurrection – a name backed by Mr Christie was included on a list of 143 pardons from Mr Trump two weeks later.

Attorney George Gilmore, the chair of the Republican Party in Ocean County, New Jersey was included on the list.

In January 2020, he was indicted on federal tax charges. He rejected all allegations of wrongdoing and his lawyer argued that his purchases of collectables stemmed from a hoarding disorder.

After being sentenced to a year and a day behind bars and three years of supervised release, Mr Gilmore still managed to avoid spending any time in prison with the Trump White House lauding his “important civic contributions over his career in New Jersey”.

Listed as his supporters were Mr Christie and Trump 2020 campaign manager Bill Stepien. He previously worked for Mr Christie in New Jersey.

The president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Noah Bookbinder, told The Guardian that “I think it’s a good thing that Christie is calling out Donald Trump on his role in inciting an insurrection and on his undercutting of democracy. For that to be coming from people who were insiders is powerful”.

“That said, I think Chris Christie needs to answer for his [having been] someone who was close to Trump when Trump’s abuses were very much apparent, really from the beginning, and from before Donald Trump became president, and in carrying through to the end of the presidency,” he added.

“We don’t know when Christie made [or supported the pardon] request [for Gilmore]. It certainly may be that all contacts were before January 6, when Christie at least says that he cut off Trump completely. But we just don’t know the answer to that,” Mr Bookbinder said.

“And I think we should, because to the extent that he is saying he was outraged by Trump’s anti-democratic abuses and had nothing to do with them, that would not be consistent with continuing to ask for favours that might seem to go around the normal pardon process. And that’s something that I think it’s appropriate for the public to have answers to,” he told the paper.

Christie says only way to beat Trump is ‘by going straight at him and through him'

Thursday 8 June 2023 18:30 , Gustaf Kilander

Christie to appear at CNN townhall with Anderson Cooper on 12 June

Thursday 8 June 2023 19:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Christie says he thought he could make Trump a ‘better president’: ‘I was wrong'

Thursday 8 June 2023 19:30 , Gustaf Kilander

Christie, like Clinton, says Trump is Putin’s ‘puppet'

Thursday 8 June 2023 20:00 , Gustaf Kilander

During his recent CNN appearance, Mr Christie employed similar to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 campaign.

The ex-governor said that Mr Trump has “been a puppet of” Russian President Vladimir Putin “from the time he was president”.

Ms Clinton, a former first lady, senator, and secretary of state, seemingly got under Mr Trump’s skin in 2016 during one of their debates.

Mr Trump slammed Ms Clinton saying that Mr Putin had “no respect” for her or then-President Barack Obama.

“Well, that’s because he’d rather have a puppet as president of the United States,” Ms Clinton said.

“No puppet. No puppet,” a seemingly rattled Mr Trump responded at the time. “You’re the puppet. No, you’re the puppet.”

‘It sounds like they have evidence that he knew he had classified documents'

Thursday 8 June 2023 20:30 , Gustaf Kilander

Mr Christie appeared on CNN on Wednesday afternoon, commenting on Donald Trump’s possible indictment for his handling of classified documents.

“Being under indictment is not good for a political candidate. And the fact is, with this one, we’ll see what the evidence turned out to be. But some of the reporting that I’ve read leads you to conclude that they have some very substantial evidence about his state of mind. That’s always one of the difficult things when you prosecute one of these cases,” he said.

“It sounds like they have evidence that he knew he had classified documents, and that he wasn’t permitted to show them to people. That undercuts the argument he’s made, that everything was declassified, as soon as he walked out the door because he said so,” he added, saying that the “classified documents that he had, that we now know he had, were things that should’ve never left the White House”.

“If he, in fact, knew that he had these documents, was looking at them, utilizing them in some way after he left office, and it looks like maybe even two years after he left office, it’s a big problem,” he said.

‘Trump has never faced attacks like this, at least not from someone who knows how to deliver them’

Thursday 8 June 2023 21:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney tweeted on Wednesday that “Chris Christie brings a fascinating dynamic to the 2024 race”.

“For all of their attributes, neither DeSantis, Scott, Haley or Pence can go after Trump like this,” he added in reference to Mr Christie calling Mr Trump a “spoiled baby” on CNN.

“More importantly, Trump has never faced attacks like this (at least not from someone who knows how to deliver them.) Should make the debates must-see-TV. That is, if Trump isn’t too afraid to be on stage with Christie,” Mr Mulvaney said.

Christie says Trump is a disappointment to the GOP and the country

Thursday 8 June 2023 21:30 , Gustaf Kilander

In 2016, Mr Trump came in tenth in Iowa and sixth in New Hampshire before dropping out of the GOP primary and endorsing Donald Trump.

On Wednesday, he said on CNN that this time, “the whole atmosphere is different. In 2015 and ‘16, when we ran the first time, you had a situation where Donald Trump had no record to speak of. He had been on a TV show, had been a developer, a property developer in New York. There is no way to really make the case against him”.

“I think all of us – myself, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, John Kasich, Ted Cruz, all found it very difficult to make the case because he can say whatever he wanted to say, there’s no proof that he couldn’t do it. ‘I’m going to build a wall across the entire border of Mexico, Mexico’s going to pay for’,” he added.

“Today, we know he said he would build a wall across the entire board with Mexico. He didn’t do it, about a quarter of the wall’s built. He said Mexico would pay for it, we haven’t gotten a first peso,” Mr Christie said. “He was going to repeal and replace Obamacare. He had a Republican Congress for two years – didn’t get it done. Said he was going to balance the budget in four years, left with the greatest deficit of any president in modern history. Said he was going to get rid of the national debt, in eight years, and lifted trillions higher than when he walked in the door just for years.”

“There’s a record here ... of things both very, very significant in public policy, but even on the trivial. Remember, he used to go after Barack Obama, for playing golf. I remember standing on one of the debate stage one time, he looked at the camera and said, ‘I will not play golf a day, because I’ll be so busy fixing all of America’s problems’. He wound up playing golf for 260 days,” Mr Christie noted. “On promises both big and small, he broke them, he disappointed our party. He disappointed the country.”

Christie on why he supported Trump in 2016: ‘I thought I could help make him a better president’

Thursday 8 June 2023 22:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Speaking about his support for Mr Trump in 2016, Mr Christie said on CNN that “back in 2016, it was clear to me he was going to be the nominee. I had had a long relationship with him over 15 years, and I thought I could help make him a better candidate and president if he won. And I didn’t want Hillary Clinton to be president, and that’s why I ran in the first place”. “Turns out I was wrong. I couldn’t make him a better candidate and I couldn’t make him a better president and he disappointed me, and he disappointed a lot of people in my party and a lot of people in this country by the way he performed. And for me, the breaking point was election night 2020 when he was out there at 2.30 in the morning claiming the election was stolen and I knew he had no evidence to prove that,” he added. “And when you undercut democracy in that way, you have forfeited the trust in my view to hold that office that he’s now trying to regain,” he said.

“When I make a misjudgment, I’ll admit and I thought I could make him better and it wound up I couldn’t. In fact, he was much worse,” Mr Christie said.

Chris Christie hits back at Trump’s mockery over his weight: ‘He’s such a spoiled baby’

Thursday 8 June 2023 22:30 , John Bowden

Chris Christie is punching back at Donald Trump after the former president responded to his campaign announcement with a juvenile video edit making fun of Mr Christie’s weight.

The former New Jersey governor appeared on CNN on Wednesday after launching his campaign with a town hall event at St Anselm College a night earlier.

During his interview, he was questioned by The Lead host Jake Tapper about a video Mr Trump posted on Truth Social of Mr Christie delivering remarks edited to appear as if the candidate is holding a plate of food while he talks.

Read more:

Chris Christie hits back at Trump’s mockery over his weight: ‘Such a spoiled baby’

‘It just renewed in my own mind what a child he is'

Thursday 8 June 2023 23:00 , John Bowden

The former New Jersey governor responded to Mr Trump mocking his weight.

“It just renewed in my own mind what a child he is. He’s a baby. Whenever you want to criticise him, in any way, that’s the way he responds,” Mr Christie said on CNN on Wednesday.

Likening that behaviour to that of a toddler, he added that Mr Trump should be “sent to [his] room, not to the White House”.

“It’s so juvenile. He is such a spoiled baby,” Mr Christie continued. He then noted that he had been struggling with his weight and health for many years, quipping derisively that Mr Trump was “breaking news” with his response.

Trump and Christie signal aggressive tone they plan to adopt in GOP primary

Thursday 8 June 2023 23:30 , John Bowden

Mr Trump accused the former governor of having a fixation on the word “small” during his town hall event in another Truth Social statement.

“How many times did Chris Christie use the word SMALL? Does he have a psychological problem with SIZE? 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. Hard to watch, boring, but that’s what you get from a failed Governor (New Jersey) who left office with a 7% approval rating and then got run out of New Hampshire,” barked the former president. “This time, it won’t be any different!”

It was, generally, a sign of the aggressive tone that both Mr Christie and Mr Trump plan to adopt in the GOP primary, which has heated up this week with the addition of three separate candidates in the field. Comparatively, their fellow candidates in the Republican primary have shied away from directly attacking the former president or responding to his own jabs at them.

‘I own my mistakes,’ Christie says in another dig at Trump

Friday 9 June 2023 00:15 , Gustaf Kilander

Christie asks for donation to get on debate stage with Trump

Friday 9 June 2023 01:00 , Gustaf Kilander

To get past the threshold of donors needed to get on the GOP primary debate stage, Mr Christie is asking for support specifically so that he can go toe to toe with Mr Trump in person.

“Trump doesn’t want me on that stage with him. Get me on there. Just one dollar,” Mr Christie tweeted on Thursday.

“Anyone who thinks they can win this thing by going around Trump is a fool. You can only win by going straight at him and through him,” Mr Christie wrote on Wednesday.

Christie says the ‘only lane’ to GOP nomination is by taking out Trump

Friday 9 June 2023 01:45 , Gustaf Kilander

Christie blasted for past comments about Trump as he campaigns on taking down ex-president

Friday 9 June 2023 02:30 , Gustaf Kilander

Christie says Trump is a disappointment to the GOP and the country

Friday 9 June 2023 03:15 , Gustaf Kilander

In 2016, Mr Trump came in tenth in Iowa and sixth in New Hampshire before dropping out of the GOP primary and endorsing Donald Trump.

On Wednesday, he said on CNN that this time, “the whole atmosphere is different. In 2015 and ‘16, when we ran the first time, you had a situation where Donald Trump had no record to speak of. He had been on a TV show, had been a developer, a property developer in New York. There is no way to really make the case against him”.

“I think all of us – myself, Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, John Kasich, Ted Cruz, all found it very difficult to make the case because he can say whatever he wanted to say, there’s no proof that he couldn’t do it. ‘I’m going to build a wall across the entire border of Mexico, Mexico’s going to pay for’,” he added.

“Today, we know he said he would build a wall across the entire board with Mexico. He didn’t do it, about a quarter of the wall’s built. He said Mexico would pay for it, we haven’t gotten a first peso,” Mr Christie said. “He was going to repeal and replace Obamacare. He had a Republican Congress for two years – didn’t get it done. Said he was going to balance the budget in four years, left with the greatest deficit of any president in modern history. Said he was going to get rid of the national debt, in eight years, and lifted trillions higher than when he walked in the door just for years.”

“There’s a record here ... of things both very, very significant in public policy, but even on the trivial. Remember, he used to go after Barack Obama, for playing golf. I remember standing on one of the debate stage one time, he looked at the camera and said, ‘I will not play golf a day, because I’ll be so busy fixing all of America’s problems’. He wound up playing golf for 260 days,” Mr Christie noted. “On promises both big and small, he broke them, he disappointed our party. He disappointed the country.”

Christie on why he supported Trump in 2016: ‘I thought I could help make him a better president’

Friday 9 June 2023 04:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Speaking about his support for Mr Trump in 2016, Mr Christie said on CNN that “back in 2016, it was clear to me he was going to be the nominee. I had had a long relationship with him over 15 years, and I thought I could help make him a better candidate and president if he won. And I didn’t want Hillary Clinton to be president, and that’s why I ran in the first place”. “Turns out I was wrong. I couldn’t make him a better candidate and I couldn’t make him a better president and he disappointed me, and he disappointed a lot of people in my party and a lot of people in this country by the way he performed. And for me, the breaking point was election night 2020 when he was out there at 2.30 in the morning claiming the election was stolen and I knew he had no evidence to prove that,” he added. “And when you undercut democracy in that way, you have forfeited the trust in my view to hold that office that he’s now trying to regain,” he said.

“When I make a misjudgment, I’ll admit and I thought I could make him better and it wound up I couldn’t. In fact, he was much worse,” Mr Christie said.

‘Trump has never faced attacks like this, at least not from someone who knows how to deliver them’

Friday 9 June 2023 04:30 , Gustaf Kilander

Former Trump White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney tweeted on Wednesday that “Chris Christie brings a fascinating dynamic to the 2024 race”.

“For all of their attributes, neither DeSantis, Scott, Haley or Pence can go after Trump like this,” he added in reference to Mr Christie calling Mr Trump a “spoiled baby” on CNN.

“More importantly, Trump has never faced attacks like this (at least not from someone who knows how to deliver them.) Should make the debates must-see-TV. That is, if Trump isn’t too afraid to be on stage with Christie,” Mr Mulvaney said.

The Republican presidential field is largely set. Here are takeaways on where the contest stands

Friday 9 June 2023 05:00 , Steve Peoples, AP

After a trio of new announcements this week, the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential field is all but set.

A handful of stragglers may jump in later, but as of now there are at least 10 high-profile Republican candidates officially seeking their party’s nomination. And with the announcement phase of the primary campaign largely over, several leading Republican contenders will gather in North Carolina this weekend to begin a more aggressive sorting period.

It will be a long road to the GOP’s national convention in Milwaukee next summer when Republican delegates across the country gather to finalize their nominee to run against President Joe Biden. Surprises are guaranteed. Fortunes will change. But as of now, every Republican White House hopeful is looking up at former President Donald Trump, who is the undisputed frontrunner in the crowded contest.

Here are some takeaways on where the Republican contest stands:

The Republican presidential field is largely set. Here are takeaways on where the contest stands.

Christie and his fellow Trump-challengers push message of being ‘tired of losing’

Friday 9 June 2023 05:30 , Gustaf Kilander

Mr Christie appeared on Fox & Friends on Thursday, slamming the political losses for the GOP under the leadership of Mr Trrump.

“I believe the Republican Party has been losing now for nearly seven years. After Donald Trump’s win in 2016 — which I was a large part of — we haven’t been able to win anything since then,” the former governor said.

“Lost the House in 2018, lost the Senate and the White House in 2020, those Georgia senate seats in early 2021, and we horribly underperformed in 2022. Lost governorships, lost a senate seat and barely won the House of Representatives when everyone thought we would be at 240 or 250 seats. So we’re tired of losing!” he added.

It’s a similar message put forward by other Republicans in the race, such as Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis, who are trying to win over Trump voters without, unlike Mr Christie, criticising Mr Trump too harshly.

But it may be a difficult message to send as many Trump voters believe his lies about the 2020 election being fraudulent and that he didn’t really lose.

Chris Christie hits back at Trump’s mockery over his weight: ‘He’s such a spoiled baby’

Friday 9 June 2023 06:00 , John Bowden

Chris Christie is punching back at Donald Trump after the former president responded to his campaign announcement with a juvenile video edit making fun of Mr Christie’s weight.

The former New Jersey governor appeared on CNN on Wednesday after launching his campaign with a town hall event at St Anselm College a night earlier.

During his interview, he was questioned by The Lead host Jake Tapper about a video Mr Trump posted on Truth Social of Mr Christie delivering remarks edited to appear as if the candidate is holding a plate of food while he talks.

Read more:

Chris Christie hits back at Trump’s mockery over his weight: ‘Such a spoiled baby’

‘It just renewed in my own mind what a child he is'

Friday 9 June 2023 07:00 , John Bowden

The former New Jersey governor responded to Mr Trump mocking his weight.

“It just renewed in my own mind what a child he is. He’s a baby. Whenever you want to criticise him, in any way, that’s the way he responds,” Mr Christie said on CNN on Wednesday.

Likening that behaviour to that of a toddler, he added that Mr Trump should be “sent to [his] room, not to the White House”.

“It’s so juvenile. He is such a spoiled baby,” Mr Christie continued. He then noted that he had been struggling with his weight and health for many years, quipping derisively that Mr Trump was “breaking news” with his response.

Trump and Christie signal aggressive tone they plan to adopt in GOP primary

Friday 9 June 2023 08:00 , John Bowden

Mr Trump accused the former governor of having a fixation on the word “small” during his town hall event in another Truth Social statement.

“How many times did Chris Christie use the word SMALL? Does he have a psychological problem with SIZE? 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. Hard to watch, boring, but that’s what you get from a failed Governor (New Jersey) who left office with a 7% approval rating and then got run out of New Hampshire,” barked the former president. “This time, it won’t be any different!”

It was, generally, a sign of the aggressive tone that both Mr Christie and Mr Trump plan to adopt in the GOP primary, which has heated up this week with the addition of three separate candidates in the field. Comparatively, their fellow candidates in the Republican primary have shied away from directly attacking the former president or responding to his own jabs at them.

‘I’m not trying to save the party,’ Christie says

Friday 9 June 2023 09:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Mr Christie was asked if he’s trying to “save” the GOP during his Fox News appearance on Thursday morning.

“If the person at the top gets all the credit when things go well, they must also be accountable for what happens when things go badly. And the fact is that Donald Trump, the candidates he picked in these individual states and endorsed all lost. And lost big races,” he said in reference to the GOP’s lacklustre performance in recent elections.

“I’m not trying to save the party,” the former governor added. “What I want the party to get back to doing is what we do best, which is to win and then implement smart, conservative policies for the entire country.”

Christie slams Trump on classified files: ‘Return the documents and stop doing this!'

Friday 9 June 2023 10:00 , Gustaf Kilander

During his Fox News appearance on Thursday, Mr Christie was asked about the investigation into Mr Trump’s handling of classified documents and the documents found at the home and office of President Joe Biden.

As Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade attempted to suggest there was a double standard, Mr Christie pushed back.

Mr Kilmeade said that “the one thing that looms over are these court cases, the ridiculous one with Alvin Bragg in New York City and now Trump attorneys have been notified that the former president is a target of a criminal investigation over his handling of those classified documents at Mar-a-Lago”.

“We know William Barr thinks this is a strong case. I also see a huge double standard. You got classified documents all over Joe Biden’s house, offices ... garage. Do you believe that what Donald Trump has done, from what you know, is criminal?” the host asked, according to Mediaite.

“The problem with all of this is that it’s self-inflicted,” Mr Christie said. “I don’t know that the government even knew that Joe Biden had those documents or not.”

“But they did know Donald Trump did,” he added, saying that they requested that Mr Trump voluntarily hand them over “for over a year and a quarter, and got them back in dribs and drabs”.

“If in fact, you’re keeping those things knowingly, even after the government has asked for you to bring them back, the excuses about, ‘oh, they were classified, declassified automatically when I left the office’. Well, that’s just wrong! I mean, I know that as a legal matter,” the ex-governor said.

“These are all self-inflicted wounds. Return the documents and stop doing this!” he added.

“Why do you have to be the centre of negative attention all the time? Why do you have to be angry all the time?” he asked in reference to Mr Trump.

Mr Christie said Mr Trump would have to carry the “weight” of his indictments into a general election if he ends up being the GOP nominee. “Why do we want to take that risk?”

Ethics expert says Christie must explain how he secured Trump pardon for New Jersey Republican

Friday 9 June 2023 11:00 , Gustaf Kilander

An ethics expert has said that Chris Christie must explain how he secured a pardon for a fellow New Jersey Republican from Mr Trump during his last day in the White House.

While Mr Christie has claimed that he hasn’t spoken to Mr Trump since before the January 6, 2021 insurrection – a name backed by Mr Christie was included on a list of 143 pardons from Mr Trump two weeks later.

Attorney George Gilmore, the chair of the Republican Party in Ocean County, New Jersey was included on the list.

In January 2020, he was indicted on federal tax charges. He rejected all allegations of wrongdoing and his lawyer argued that his purchases of collectables stemmed from a hoarding disorder.

After being sentenced to a year and a day behind bars and three years of supervised release, Mr Gilmore still managed to avoid spending any time in prison with the Trump White House lauding his “important civic contributions over his career in New Jersey”.

Listed as his supporters were Mr Christie and Trump 2020 campaign manager Bill Stepien. He previously worked for Mr Christie in New Jersey.

The president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Noah Bookbinder, told The Guardian that “I think it’s a good thing that Christie is calling out Donald Trump on his role in inciting an insurrection and on his undercutting of democracy. For that to be coming from people who were insiders is powerful”.

“That said, I think Chris Christie needs to answer for his [having been] someone who was close to Trump when Trump’s abuses were very much apparent, really from the beginning, and from before Donald Trump became president, and in carrying through to the end of the presidency,” he added.

“We don’t know when Christie made [or supported the pardon] request [for Gilmore]. It certainly may be that all contacts were before January 6, when Christie at least says that he cut off Trump completely. But we just don’t know the answer to that,” Mr Bookbinder said.

“And I think we should, because to the extent that he is saying he was outraged by Trump’s anti-democratic abuses and had nothing to do with them, that would not be consistent with continuing to ask for favours that might seem to go around the normal pardon process. And that’s something that I think it’s appropriate for the public to have answers to,” he told the paper.

Christie to appear at CNN townhall with Anderson Cooper on 12 June

Friday 9 June 2023 12:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Christie, like Clinton, says Trump is Putin’s ‘puppet'

Friday 9 June 2023 13:00 , Gustaf Kilander

During his recent CNN appearance, Mr Christie employed similar to Hillary Clinton in the 2016 campaign.

The ex-governor said that Mr Trump has “been a puppet of” Russian President Vladimir Putin “from the time he was president”.

Ms Clinton, a former first lady, senator, and secretary of state, seemingly got under Mr Trump’s skin in 2016 during one of their debates.

Mr Trump slammed Ms Clinton saying that Mr Putin had “no respect” for her or then-President Barack Obama.

“Well, that’s because he’d rather have a puppet as president of the United States,” Ms Clinton said.

“No puppet. No puppet,” a seemingly rattled Mr Trump responded at the time. “You’re the puppet. No, you’re the puppet.”

‘It sounds like they have evidence that he knew he had classified documents'

Friday 9 June 2023 14:00 , Gustaf Kilander

Mr Christie appeared on CNN on Wednesday afternoon, commenting on Donald Trump’s possible indictment for his handling of classified documents.

“Being under indictment is not good for a political candidate. And the fact is, with this one, we’ll see what the evidence turned out to be. But some of the reporting that I’ve read leads you to conclude that they have some very substantial evidence about his state of mind. That’s always one of the difficult things when you prosecute one of these cases,” he said.

“It sounds like they have evidence that he knew he had classified documents, and that he wasn’t permitted to show them to people. That undercuts the argument he’s made, that everything was declassified, as soon as he walked out the door because he said so,” he added, saying that the “classified documents that he had, that we now know he had, were things that should’ve never left the White House”.

“If he, in fact, knew that he had these documents, was looking at them, utilizing them in some way after he left office, and it looks like maybe even two years after he left office, it’s a big problem,” he said.