Christie says he’d fight Trump: ‘I’d kick his a‑‑’

Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie
Greg Nash
Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie addresses the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority conference in Washington, D.C., on Friday June 23, 2023.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said he would fight former President Trump “anywhere he wants” and said if the two former allies were facing off in a match, “I’d kick his ass.”

“Come on. The guy’s 78 years old. I’d kick his ass,” Christie told Piers Morgan in an interview that aired Thursday, when asked who would win in a head-to-head fight. 

“Look, I’ll fight Donald Trump anywhere he wants, in any arena he wants — whether it’s on the debate stage or in the octagon,” Christie later added.

Christie entered the 2024 GOP presidential primary race as Trump’s chief antagonist and has attacked the former president on a range of issues. Christie was one of Trump’s greatest allies until after the 2020 election, when Christie began publicly criticizing the former president.

Trump has been leading his fellow Republican candidates by double digits in recent polls. In a recent Morning Consult poll, Trump had the support of 56 percent of the GOP voters surveyed. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis came in second at a distant 17 percent, followed by conservative entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy at 8 percent and former Vice President Mike Pence at 7 percent.

Christie — along with former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott — received 3 percent of the support from respondents. 

The fighting match rhetoric comes as some high-profile figures have claimed on social media and elsewhere that they were prepared to fight their chief rivals. 

Twitter owner Elon Musk claimed he would be “up for a cage fight” against Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who, in turn, tweeted “send me the location.”

“Vegas Octagon,” Musk responded on Twitter.

Tags 2024 GOP presidential primary Chris Christie Donald Trump Mark Zuckerberg Piers Morgan

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Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, left, stands on stage with Melania Trump, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and Republican vice presidential candidate Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, after speaking during the Republican National Convention, Thursday, July 18, 2024, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)
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