“Go big!” Chris Christie says Obama, Trump and Biden have made us ‘smaller’

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie kicked off his return to the national political scene with an opening message: “Go big.”

He denied running for president as a spoiler, but said he wanted to take down Donald Trump — whom he slammed for “coddling” Vladimir Putin, running “botched casinos” and “reprehensible” bartering with Ukrainian aide which was the subject of Trump’s second impeachment. .

He said Americans knew Trump was “full of it” when he said Mexico would pay for the border wall, then vowed not to make the mistake of letting Trump’s claims go unchecked.

Christie denounced the “disrespect, narcissism, and four years of lying” of the Trump era. “The people in the middle said enough,” he said, pointing to the 2020 results.

Christie started a city hall in Manchester, New Hampshire by listing leaders from the founders to Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson and John F. Kennedy, who he said were willing to go big if it mattered.

He then tore up rivals he called “pretenders,” who he said tried to divert attention by focusing on petty issues in an attempt to divide the nation in their own favor.

“We have presidential candidates talking about issues so small that sometimes it’s hard to even understand them,” he said in a remark that appeared to be aimed at Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

He said Donald Trump “has made us smaller by dividing us even further and pitting one group against another, different groups against different groups every day.”

He said that “pretends” tried to “divide you further, to make it easier for them to rule you.”

Christie spoke at a town hall at Manchester’s St. Anselm’s Institute of Politics, bringing him face-to-face with voters in a state he focused heavily on during his 2016 campaign, but came sixth.

He first spoke without dropping a name about a leader he called “lonely, selfish” and “selfish.”

Then, in blunt language, he intends to once again make a feature of his campaign, Christie said: “The person I’m talking about who is obsessed with the mirror, who never admits a mistake, who never admits a mistake… . is Donald Trump.’

Christie made it clear from the start of his remarks that he would keep his promise to take on Trump, who is well above rivals in the GOP field.

Christie accused Trump of ‘coddling’ Vladimir Putin and insincerely saying Mexico would pay for the border wall

His first question came from a clinical psychologist who said the nation is “traumatized.”

Christy denounced “chaos” and “constant yelling, yelling,” as well as “fake power.”

“If you lead that chaos to elevate yourself… well, you traumatize the nation,” he said.

“Trump voters don’t exist,” he told a 15-year-old questioner. ‘He doesn’t own them. He did not possess them. They are not one of his buildings. They are not one of his failed casinos in New Jersey. They’re not that wreck he has in Las Vegas.”

Christie ridiculed the story that he is running on a kamikaze mission to take down Trump as a spoiler.

This man is leading in the polls. Who should I worry about, Nikki Haley?” he said in response to a question about what he learned from his failed run in 2016.

He vowed not to make “the same mistake” by letting Trump’s brags go unchecked on the assumption that people won’t believe them.

“The reason I’m going after Trump is twofold. One he deserves. And second, it’s the way to win,” he said.

Even after joking about his sixth-place finish, he said his run for the White House is real.

“I’m going out to take out Donald Trump. But here’s why: I want to win. And I don’t want him to win.’

“There are not multiple paths to the nomination,” he said, mocking the political science talk.

There’s one road to the Republican nomination, and it’s on it. And do you want to win? You better go right through him.’ He then spoke of Trump’s penchant for attacking rivals: he attacked Christie’s weight days ago.

“He’s going to try and get through me,” Christie said.