Christie booed at Faith and Freedom event over Trump remarks

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) was booed Friday after he criticized former President Donald Trump during a Faith and Freedom Coalition event, saying in response, “You can boo all you want.”

“Why am I running for president of the United States? I’m running because [Trump’s] let us down. He has let us down because he’s unwilling — he’s unwilling to take responsibility for any of the mistakes that were made,” Christie said during the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority conference in Washington, D.C.

Christie noted that he was the first 2016 presidential candidate to back Trump and served as chairman of his transition team afterward. But as he continued further into his speech, the crowd shouted and booed at him.

“You can boo all you want,” Christie responded. 

“Our faith teaches us that people have to take responsibility for what they do. People have to stand up and take accountability for what they do, and I cannot stand by,” Christie added, amid a mix of boos and some applause.

After his speech, Christie received loud cheers from some attendees who had gathered toward the back of the event to greet and take a photo with him.

But the response underscored the degree to which the event is a largely pro-Trump environment, as well as the difficulty anti-Trump candidates like Christie may have among Republican primary voters largely still loyal to Trump.

Further highlighting this point, North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R), who’s running for governor in the state, received some of the largest applause early on during the event when he said he would be endorsing Trump in 2024. Robinson, who was endorsed by Trump earlier in the month, had previously been mum on who he’d back in the 2024 GOP presidential primary.