Presidential candidate and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) criticized former President Trump for the patriotic rhetoric of his campaign and attempts to push past his criminal charges.
“He’s not putting America first. That’s the great irony of this campaign,” Christie said in an MSNBC interview Tuesday. “He’s put Donald Trump first.”
“The problem with Trump is that he knows no sense of history, no intellectual curiosity, and doesn’t care whether he puts himself before the country at every turn,” he added.
Trump, who is still the current GOP front-runner despite mounting legal woes, has brushed off the significance of his three criminal indictments in campaign events, saying in recent weeks he was “indicted for you,” painting himself as a martyr of his political movement.
The former president was indicted after two federal investigations into allegations he mishandled classified documents and attempted to overturn the results of the 2020 election. He was also indicted in New York on charges he made an illegal hush money payment to an adult film actress.
Christie, one of Trump’s strongest critics in the race, called those comments “patently absurd.”
“How are the American people benefited by keeping boxes of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago?” Christie said. “They were there for him to continue to pretend he was president and show off for people who were on the back patio at Mar-a-Lago by showing them things he shouldn’t have been showing them.”
Trump has called the indictments a “badge of honor” and claimed they’ve helped his campaign.
Recent national polling averages show Trump’s support has grown in recent weeks, mostly as support for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) campaign has dropped off. Trump has about 53 percent support in recent polling, compared to Christie’s about 2 percent.