Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie clashed with Newsmax host Eric Bolling on Thursday over former President Trump and the 2024 presidential race.
Christie, the former New Jersey governor, has been one of Trump’s most vocal critics in the GOP race. Bolling pressed him on this strategy, and whether Christie’s low polling might make him reconsider attacking Trump.
“No, it’s not time to change the strategy. The guy who’s 20 points ahead is the guy you have to beat to be the nominee, Eric,” Christie told Bolling.
“And that’s why I think the Haley and DeSantis strategy is so ineffective, and why Ron DeSantis is now in single digits in New Hampshire, because he’s not making the case against the one person you need to beat if you want to be the Republican nominee for president,” Christie said.
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The former governor proceeded to attack Trump for the dozens of charges he is facing in multiple states, arguing Trump can’t beat President Biden “from, you know, a courtroom in Washington, D.C., when he’s being tried for crimes.”
Christie and Bolling began to clash after Christie stated that it’s “not some woke prosecutor” or a “crazy Democrat” that is going against Trump in court, pointing to the cooperation of Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows. “Mark Meadows, you would call him a hero weeks ago,” Christie said.
“Come on. Don’t interrupt me when I start to say things that make people uncomfortable,” Christie said as the host tried to interject.
“I’m not a numbers guy, by the way, Eric. I’m a character guy,” Christie continued. “And I think we deserve better as the Republican Party and as the United States than a guy who is going to be convicted of felonies this April to be our nominee.”
Bolling pushed back on Christie’s assertion that Trump will be convicted, claiming if it happened it would be by “a bunch of liberal Democrats” who “fear him.”
“No, I’m not gonna put up with you saying that,” Christie hit back. “He’s going to be convicted by Mark Meadows.”
Christie has repeatedly said that he believes Trump will be a convicted felon and has attacked other GOP candidates for their continued willingness to support the former president, who has been indicted in four separate criminal cases, comprising a total of 91 felony counts.
“When Mark Meadows gets on that stand, everything I’ve been saying about Donald Trump that you’ve been making fun of me about for months, is gonna wind up being true,” Christie said. “The truth is coming, baby.”