Christie warns Trump’s ‘vermin’ remark could incite others: ‘He doesn’t care’

GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie warned that former President Trump’s rhetoric, including his recent ‘vermin’ comment, could incite others.

“Well, I think that what he’s done with his use of language, is to give permission to a lot of people who then believe they can take it even further,” Christie told CNN anchor Jake Tapper on “The Lead” on Wednesday. “And they can actualize the things that he said, weaponize the things that he’s saying. And most people won’t use that type of language, because they know there’s a risk of that.”

“He doesn’t care. He just doesn’t care, Jake. I mean, his view is if it’s good for him at that moment, he’ll do it,” the former New Jersey governor added.

Christie’s comments come after the former president pledged in remarks in New Hampshire over the weekend that if reelected, he would “root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country,” warning of the “threat from within.” 

Trump has faced backlash in the days since making the comment, including drawing comparisons to dictators from decades ago.

President Biden took aim at the language earlier this week, saying that it was similar to phrases used in Nazi Germany. The rhetoric has also been largely condemned by White House aides, lawmakers, historians and some Republicans, comparing the comments to dictators Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.

“It that goes language you heard Nazi Germany in the ’30s. That is [not] even the first time,” Biden said at a San Francisco fundraiser. “Trump also recently talked about blood of America has been poisoned. The blood in America has been poisoned. Again, echoes the same phrases used in Nazi Germany.”

Christie, who has been an outspoken critic of the former president, agreed with the comparison.

He described the language as “not only is it awful, but it is reminiscent of the worst language used in Nazi Germany.”