During his 2016 campaign, Donald Trump amassed support in part by mopping the floor with his fellow GOP candidates during debates. Not this time. The former president is crushing the primary polls, all without sharing the stage with his opponents. Why show up when he’s leading by double digits? Well, if he continues to play hooky with future showdowns, one of his rivals has a back-up plan.
As per Mediaite, Chris Christie, Trump’s fiercest Republican critic (and there aren’t many, at least not publicly), went on Fox News Sunday, where he addressed the elephant in the debate room, if you will. Howard Kurtz brought up how much the former New Jersey governor would love to go toe-to-toe with his old pal, which reportedly terrifies Trump. Has that thrown a monkey wrench in Christie’s campaigning, Kurtz asked?
“Well, if he doesn’t do any of the debates, Howie, you know, we’re going to give him another chance,” Christie replied. “I’m sure he’s not coming to the Reagan debate. We’ll give him another chance in Alabama. But if he doesn’t come there, then I’m going to follow him around the country. Wherever he goes, I’ll go. And we’ll wind up talking to each other one way or the other.”
“You’re going to change your travel schedule to go where Trump goes, just so I’m clear?” Kurtz asked.
Christie replied, “You bet.”
Trump famously skipped the first GOP debate, which forced Christie to instead drag new kid on the block Vivek Ramaswamy. At the time Christie called Trump a “coward,” saying, “There’s no other conclusion to come to that he’s both afraid of me and he’s afraid of defending his record. And if I had his record, I’d be nervous about showing up, too.”
During the same interview, Christie also asserted that Republicans are “kidding” themselves if they think the guy with four indictments can win over anyone but the hardcore base, all but handing the presidency back to Joe Biden.
(Via Mediaite)