Fox moderators confront crowd amid Christie boos

Fox News moderator Bret Baier confronted the crowd in the first GOP debate after attendants booed former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) following criticism he gave of former President Trump.

“So listen, the more time we spend doing this, the less time they can talk about issues you want to talk about,” Baier told the crowd after several rounds of booing interrupted the debate. 

Christie was asked earlier in the debate about his hesitance in raising his hand in response to a question about whether the Republican presidential candidates would still support Trump as their party’s choice despite his legal troubles.

“Here’s the bottom line. Someone’s got to stop normalizing this conduct, OK? … Now, whether or not — whether or not you believe that the criminal charges are right or wrong, the conduct is beneath the office of president of the United States,” Christie said, leading to boos. 

“This is the great thing about this country. Booing is allowed, but it doesn’t change the truth,” Christie followed up. 

That prompted some pushback from biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy who said, “Let’s just speak the truth, OK? President Trump, I believe, was the best president of the 21st century.” 

“I’m not running for president of MSNBC. I am running for president of the United States,” Ramaswamy added at one point, taking a jab at Christie.  

Christie was booed again as he sought to respond to Ramaswamy, leading to Baier’s admonishing the crowd.