Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) took a shot at former President Trump on Sunday in response to his former ally’s repeated barbs about Christie’s weight.
“Oh, like he’s some Adonis?” Christie told Fox News’s Howard Kurtz on “MediaBuzz,” referring to the god in Greek mythology who was known for his remarkable beauty.
“You know, look, Howie, there are tens of millions of Americans out in your audience watching right now who, like me, have struggled with their weight. I continue to struggle. I continue to try to do better. And so … what’s that got to do with my competence for office?” he asked.
“I ran the governorship of New Jersey for eight years, I think in a very energetic, successful way, responded to Hurricane Sandy, working 20 hours a day for weeks. I don’t know what his point is. You know what it is? It’s like a child. It’s a bully on the schoolyard who teases you and makes fun of you,” he continued.
The former New Jersey governor also took a jab at Trump’s weight, saying the former president was being hypocritical.
“Here’s my message to him. I don’t care what he says about me, and I don’t care what he thinks about me. And he should take a look in the mirror every once in a while. Maybe he dropped the weight thing off of his list of criticisms,” Christie told Kurtz.
After Christie launched his campaign earlier this month in a town hall in New Hampshire, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, “How many times did Chris Christie use the word SMALL? Does he have a psychological problem with SIZE? Actually, his speech was SMALL, and not very good.”
Trump is widely viewed as the front-runner in the 2024 GOP presidential field, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis generally placing second in polls.
An NBC News poll released on Sunday showed Christie placing fourth at 5 percent, behind former Vice President Mike Pence in third at 7 percent, suggesting Christie might be picking up some traction.