Chris Christie is amazed that his fellow 2024 hopefuls will still support Donald Trump if he becomes the nominee and is also convicted of a felony in one of his four charges.
The former New Jersey governor predicted that after skipping the first Republican debate on Wednesday, Trump will also choose not to attend the second debate next month at the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California.
Christie says Trump doesn’t want to be compared to Reagan’s “honest, straightforward” conservatism.
One of eight candidates to take the stage at the debate in Milwaukee and Wicosnin on Wednesday, Christie was joined only by the former governor of Arkansas. Asa Hutchinson says they would not support Trump’s candidacy if he were convicted of a crime.
To participate in the debate, the candidates had to sign a pledge made by the Republican National Committee (RNC) pledging to support the Republican nominee for president in 2024. But Hutchinson and Christie said they would go back on that promise if Trump is convicted of a crime.
Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie predicted that Donald Trump will also not make it to the second Republican debate after failing to show up for the first debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Wednesday.
Christie said he was “surprised” that so many other candidates on stage said they would support Trump’s nomination even if he is convicted of a crime. The day after the first debate, Trump turned himself over to authorities in Fulton County, Georgia, to face charges in his final indictment. Pictured: Trump’s first-ever mugshot came out after his fourth set of indictments
“The truth is, we can’t have a convicted felon running for president and expect to win,” Christie told Martha Raddatz, host of ABC’s This Week, on Sunday.
He added: “And the most amazing part of the debate I thought was the idea that, you know, the majority of my competitors believe you can have a convicted felon running for president, and they support that and that he could win. I think that’s an impossibility.’
Along with Christie and Hutchinson, the six other participants in the debate included Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, tending to an injured foot. night of the first GOP debate.
It came just one day before Trump turned himself over to authorities in Fulton County, Georgia for indictment and booking in the fourth and final indictment against him over his plan to overturn the 2020 election.
Trump skipped the first debate and instead sat down with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson for an extended interview, saying he was not taking part because his polls are way ahead of other candidates in the primary.
The second debate will be held September 27 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.
Christie, who previously predicted Trump would eventually show up for the first debate, says he doesn’t expect Trump to show up for the second debate. But he did say it’s possible the ex-president will be on the third set for Alabama.
After January 6, 2021, Christie became one of the most vocal critics of the ex-president and his handling of the fallout from the 2020 election.
“I don’t think he’ll show up for the next one,” Christie said.
The second Republican primary debate will be held Sept. 27 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. Christie predicted that Trump will not show up because he does not want to be compared to Reagan.
Six of the eight candidates who took the stage at the first Republican debate on Wednesday said they would keep their promise to support the Republican nominee — even if it’s Trump and he’s convicted of a felony
“I never thought he’d show up at the next one,” he insisted. “It’s in the Reagan library. And because Ronald Reagan is an honest, direct, and successful conservative, Donald Trump obviously wouldn’t want to go near the Reagan Library and suffer that comparison.”
“But we’ll see if he shows up for debate number three in Alabama. I think he’s much more likely to show up. I certainly don’t think he will appear in the Reagan Library,” he said during his Sunday morning interview with ABC This Week.
Raddatz asked Christie to rate his first debate performance.
“I answered the questions like I always do, very directly, looked into the camera and spoke to the audience at home and told them the truth,” he said.
If Trump becomes the Republican Party nominee as a convicted criminal, Christie said it would ensure President Joe Biden wins another term in 2024.
“I think it will mean to people across the country that there’s four more years of Joe Biden,” he said. “And for Republican primaries, they have to think about what that will mean: possibly an overcrowded Supreme Court, possibly abolishing the filibuster, and much more.”
“So what’s at stake here is we have to nominate someone who has proven he can beat the Democratic incumbents,” he added. “And I was the only one on that stage who ever did that, and I’ll beat Joe Biden if I get the nomination.”