Chris Christie runs Donald Trump attack ad: In a new ad, the former New Jersey governor has accused his former friend of cowardice.
Chris Christie Declares War on Donald Trump
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has launched a presidential campaign that, at least so far, has been mostly about taking shots at former President Donald Trump, his onetime ally.
Christie was the first major establishment figure to endorse Trump for president, in 2016, but the two had an often-contentious relationship throughout the Trump presidency, one that appeared to end when Christie accused Trump of giving him the case of COVID-19 that put the former governor in the hospital in late 2020.
Now, the two are running against each other, and Christie has been much more willing than most other Republican candidates to call out Trump for the actions that got him indicted multiple times.
A pro-Christie Super PAC, the Tell It Like It Is PAC, has released an advertisement going after Trump for threatening to skip the first presidential campaign.
“Should you show up the debate?,” the ad asks, before noting that if he does, his opponents will bring up “the impeachments, the indictments, [and] bring up how you lost to Joe Biden.” The ad then asks “so, Donald, you need to decide- are you a chicken, or just a loser?”
Christie appeared on CNN over the weekend, with Jake Tapper, and was shown the ad and asked to comment on it, with the proviso that candidates are not allowed to coordinate with the Super PACs that support them.
“It’s the first time I’ve seen it, but I think it’s probably a pretty good question,” Christie said of the ad. “The Republican Party voters who are deciding who our nominee should be should be able to make that decision by comparing all the candidates who qualify for the debate stage, right next to each other.” Christie added that his campaign has qualified for the debate, and “we’ll be waiting for Donald Trump.”
But whether those Republican voters are interested in what Christie is offering is another question altogether.
The latest Morning Consult poll, released last Tuesday, has Christie with just three percent support in the Republican primary contest, which has him tied for fifth place with Nikki Haley and Tim Scott.
And not only that, but Morning Consult states that Christie is “widely disliked among the GOP electorate.”
“Chris Christie, who’s spent much of his time on the campaign trail criticizing Trump, has an enormous popularity disadvantage,” the release announcing the poll said. “Almost half of potential GOP primary voters (46%) hold unfavorable views of the former New Jersey governor, compared with 26% who view him favorably. He has 3% support against the other candidates.”
As evidenced by the Super PAC ad and Christie’s style in the campaign, he’s trying to out-Trump Trump, with aggressive insults and name-calling.
In a recent interview with Piers Morgan, Christie was asked what would happen if Christie and Trump “got in the ring.”
“The guy’s 78 years old, I’d kick his ass,” Christie said of his former friend, although Politico corrected Trump’s actual age (he’s 77; Christie is 60.)
Morgan also pointed out that Trump has ripped Christie for being overweight.
“Look at him, Arnold Schwarzenegger,” Christie said of Trump. “For him to be such a child, an infant, and make those kinds of remarks … what he should do first is work on himself.”
“Chris Christie should think before he opens his mouth,” Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told Politico in response.
Per CNN, Christie’s campaign raised $1.65 million during the second quarter, the first full quarter in which Christie was fully in the race. While that was enough to get the former governor on the debate stage, it pales by comparison to the $35 million raised in the quarter by Trump’s joint fundraising committee, and $20 million raised by Ron DeSantis in the second quarter. North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum raised $11.7 million, although the bulk of that came from a personal loan.
Expertise and Experience: Stephen Silver is a Senior Editor for 19FortyFive. He is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, who is also a contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. Follow him on Twitter at @StephenSilver.
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