Former Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie tried to put a positive spin on the roar of boos he received during the first GOP 2024 presidential debate.
However, even CNN isn’t buying it.
During an interview with “CNN This Morning,” Christie dismissed the unwelcoming boos from the crowd. Instead, he patted himself on the back for attacking former President Trump early on during the event.
When asked why he received such an adverse reaction to his criticism of Trump, Christie said, “Well, because not every Republican primary voter in America was in the arena. And because you can’t be looking to play to the grandstands.”
The vocal Trump critic said that his “best” moment of the night was when he declined to raise his hand when the debate hosts asked who would support Trump even if he were convicted in a court of law, adding that he was “proud” of his decision.
“If you’re unwilling to confront him when he’s not there, how the heck are you gonna be willing to confront him when he is?” Christie continued, adding, “I’m proud of the fact that I was the only one last night who was willing to do it repeatedly and directly.”
Christie criticized his opponents for not attacking Trump during the debate, in which he suggested that the former president deserves to be politically persecuted by the Left for no reason.
“You should just cede the race to Donald Trump, which is what a lot of those people did on the stage last night,” Christie said, adding that he believes Trump does not deserve the GOP nominee.
On the contrary, during Trump’s counter-programming interview with Tucker Carlson— which garnered over 200 million views in less than 12 hours— the 45th president went after Christie for his relentless attacks.
“He runs solely on the basis of, ‘Let’s get Trump,’” Trump said. “He’s like a savage maniac. He’s like a lunatic. And that’s all he talks about.”
"The fact is if you're not going to talk about that, then why bother running?"@GovChristie joins to recap his debate performance, including the moment he was booed for attacking President Trump: pic.twitter.com/eTi0bupVO5
— CNN This Morning (@CNNThisMorning) August 24, 2023