Christie: Trump will attend debates because ‘his ego won’t permit him not to’

Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie said former President Trump will show up to the GOP primary debates because of his ego.

The New York Times’s Maureen Dowd interviewed Christie, former governor of New Jersey, for an opinion piece published Saturday. When asked whether he believed Trump would attend the GOP debates after previously saying he may not, Christie affirmed that the former president most likely will.

“I think that he’ll show up at the debates because his ego won’t permit him not to,” Christie said. “He can’t have a big TV show that he’s not on.”

“He’s on Truth Social going bonkers, and no one’s paying attention? He won’t deal well with that,” the former governor added.

Christie has repeatedly reiterated that he has the skills to beat Trump at a debate because he helped him prep for his debates in 2016 and 2020. He has also called on the former president to commit to attending the debate, saying Friday that he will “shame” Trump into showing up to the debates.

Christie also said that his New Jersey roots will help him campaign against Trump because he understands “what the New York thing is.” Christie had also run for the GOP presidential nomination in 2016, but dropped out after coming in sixth place in New Hampshire.

“I don’t think he’s ever gone up against somebody who knows how to do what he does,” he said. “He’s never run against somebody from New Jersey who understands what the New York thing is and what he’s all about. For people like me, who’ve grown up here and lived my whole life in this atmosphere, he’s just one of a lot of people I know who have that personality. He knows I know what his game is.”

Trump has not said whether he will be attending the debates, arguing that he should not have to debate while he maintains a comfortable lead in the polls.

“I like to debate. I probably am here because of debates. I don’t mind it at all,” Trump told Fox News’s Bret Baier in an interview that aired earlier this month. “But when you’re 40 points up …. Why would I let these people take shots at me?”

The Hill has reached out to Trump’s campaign for comment.