Chris Christie knows exactly how to get under Donald Trump’s skin. Namely, by invoking his failed re-election bid against Joe Biden.
At a Las Vegas event last weekend, the former New Jersey governor – and 2024 hopeful – said the GOP should stop rehashing the 2020 election and instead focus on the future.
Trump, sensing that his Big Lie was being challenged by a former ally, blasted Christie in a statement, saying “Everybody remembers that Chris left New Jersey with a less than 9% approval rating—a record low, and they didn’t want to hear this from him!” (It was actually 19%.)
Trump goes after Chris Christie, who as recently as a year ago was helping Trump with debate prep: pic.twitter.com/jLwvJKnxy3
— Andrew Solender (@AndrewSolender) November 8, 2021
Christie had a chance to respond during an interview with Axios (watch clip above).
“I’m not gonna get into a back-and-forth with Donald Trump,” Christie said. “But what I will say is this: When I ran for reelection in 2013, I got 60% of the vote. When he ran for reelection, he lost to Joe Biden.”
“I’m happy to have that comparison stand up, because that’s the one that really matters,” Christie added.
Christie points out that Trump lost his last election. The Youngkin victory can be read a few ways but one is that there is movement to stop making all of politics about Trump. https://t.co/KaCg28ECks
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) November 11, 2021
In September, Christie took a veiled shot at Trump during a speech at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California.
“No man, no woman, no matter what office they’ve held or wealth they’ve acquired, are worthy of blind faith or obedience. We deserve much better than to be misled by those trying to acquire or hold on to power.”
“Stop pretending we won when we lost,” Christie told the audience, calling it “a waste of time, energy and credibility.”
Christie has indicated that he’s considering a 2024 run – regardless of what Trump does.
“I’m also not going to be one of these people who’s going to say, ‘Well, I’ll wait to see what President Trump’s going to do.’ I’m not going to defer to anyone if I decide that’s what I want to do and that I think I’m the best option for the party and for the country,” Christie said on a podcast in May.