Trump and Chris Christie trade punches over 2024: Ex-president slams former New Jersey governor as ‘sloppy’ after predicting Donald Biden will NOT hit in a rematch election
Donald Trump appears to be keeping a close eye on today’s Sunday newscasts, as evidenced by his swift attack on ex-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for casting doubt on the former president’s prospects for 2024.
The former Republican governor and 2016 White House nominee told ABC News This Week when asked if Trump could beat President Joe Biden in the next race, ‘I don’t think so’.
Less than four hours after completing the program, Trump used his Truth social app to poke fun at his formal presidential rival.
“‘Sloppy’ Chris Christie, the failed former governor of New Jersey, spent most of his final year in office campaigning in New Hampshire for the Republican nomination for president,” the ex-president wrote.
“Much like his term, which he left with an approval rating of just 9%, his presidential campaign was a complete disaster.”
Chris Christie threw cold water on Donald Trump’s 2024 prospects Sunday morning when asked about a new poll that shows 49 percent of Republicans want someone else to run
Trump also seemed to blame Christie for his appointment of FBI Director Chris Wray, whom the ex-president was reportedly trying to fire for not being another Yes Man in his orbit.
He also claimed that Christie’s career was only revived by his contract as a talking head at ABC News.
“He endorsed me the next day, later recommended Chris Wray for the FBI (how did that work?), burst into flames and then was RESCUED by ABC FAKE NEWS,” Trump said of Christie.
‘I never wanted him!’
Christie turned against Trump after the Jan. 6 Capitol riots and was a key Republican critic of voter fraud allegations by him and his allies in 2020.
He was among several GOP names floated to potentially challenge Trump in 2024.
So far, the ex-president is the only declared Republican challenger for the next elections. His former United Nations ambassador, Nikki Haley, is expected to announce her campaign later this month.
Christie, whose speeches at key Republican events and his recent memoir have sparked her own 2024 rumors, was asked by ABC why there weren’t more candidates running besides Trump.
“Everyone’s toying with the ‘Will I run, I won’t run’ idea and I think the reason it’s coming along slowly is because nobody sees a need for it,” the ex-governor said.
The former president has responded with lightning speed to challenges and doubts about his candidacy
Less than four hours after the newscast ended, he attacked Christie on Truth Social
“Who wants to be first in the pool with Donald Trump when they have no one else to shoot at?”
He said Trump’s “whole life is shooting people.”
“Why are you so keen on being the first in the pool to do that?” Christie added.
A new ABC News/Washington Post poll released Sunday shows Trump narrowly beating Biden in a hypothetical rematch by a margin of 48-45 percent.
The three-point difference is within the survey’s 3.5 percent margin of error.
Overall, however, the poll suggests that Americans are over both Biden’s and Trump’s candidacy.
A 49 percent majority of likely Republican voters said they wanted someone other than Trump to be their nominee for the White House.
Meanwhile, a 58 percent majority of Democrat pollsters called for Biden to pass his torch to another member of his party in 2024.
The poll shows just 7% of voters are “thrilled” with Biden’s re-election bid, while 17% feel the same about a second term with Trump