Christie ‘can’t imagine’ pardon for Trump in documents case

GOP presidential candidate and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Thursday he “can’t imagine” a presidential pardon for former President Trump if the Republican front-runner is found guilty in the classified documents case for which he is facing federal charges. 

“Let’s say with the documents case — which is the only one that the president would have jurisdiction over. Given what’s alleged in the indictment, if that were proven, and … the former president were found guilty, as long as I thought he got a fair trial … I would have a hard time considering any pardon,” Christie told Chris Cuomo on NewsNation. 

“And by the way, as you know, to get a pardon, you have to also accept responsibility for what you did,” the former governor continued. “I doubt very highly that Donald Trump would ever do that. And so I can’t imagine a pardon being issued.”

Trump has been charged with 37 counts in relation to his alleged mishandling of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago after his time in office, as well as his efforts to block the government from recovering the materials.

Another GOP 2024 presidential candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy, has promised to pardon Trump if elected in 2024, while former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson — who’s also in the running — has said Trump’s legal issues should be disqualifying and knocked Ramaswamy for the pledge.

Fellow candidate and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said that she’s “inclined in favor of a pardon” if Trump were to be convicted of federal charges. Trump’s former vice president, Mike Pence, who’s also running for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024, has said conversations about pardoning Trump are “premature.”

Cuomo also asked Thursday about whether Christie would consider a pardon for President Biden, whose document handling is also being investigated, but Christie said that “would be an impossible question to answer” given it’s unclear what Biden may be accused of. 

Christie also criticized Trump for his threat to skip the primary debates, claiming the former president “is a coward” if he follows through.

“If Donald Trump doesn’t show up, he is a coward. That’s the only excuse for him sitting in his place in Bedminster, N.J., and watching it on TV, rather than being a man and stand on the stage. And defend his record and his conduct,” Christie said, adding that he thinks Trumps “ego is much too large” to not get on the debate stage. 

Trump has previously previously suggested that, since he’s polling as the GOP front-runner, he doesn’t need to engage in the debate — leaving some in his party split on whether he should attend the first debate, scheduled for Aug. 23 in Milwaukee.

On Wednesday, the former New Jersey governor announced that his 2024 campaign has reached the minimum number of donors required to qualify for the first debate.

NewsNation and The Hill are both owned by Nexstar Media Group.