GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie is weighing in on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “endorsement” of former President Trump in his latest slew of attacks against the former president.
“It’s good to see Vladimir Putin has made his endorsement official — and no surprise, he’s endorsed another autocrat,” Christie told The New York Times.
Putin took aim at the criminal cases against Trump during a speech at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, Russia, on Tuesday, saying that they represent “the rottenness of the American political system.”
Putin argued that “everything that is happening with Trump is the persecution of a political rival for political reasons.”
The Trump and Putin relationship has long been under scrutiny.
Trump has boasted about his relationship with Putin, both during his time in the White House and since leaving. He has repeatedly claimed that he could end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours and has called Putin a “genius”.
Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, is one of Trump’s most outspoken critics in the 2024 GOP primary field. He also took to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, to respond to Putin’s comments about Trump’s legal woes.
“Meet Vladimir Putin. Brutal, mass-murdering, KGB hitman who thinks our system is ‘rotten.’ Trump thinks Putin is a ‘genius’ — he clearly needs new role models,” Christie wrote on X. “Get it straight. Trump is under indictment because of his conduct. He played with fire and is getting burned. And now his best buddy is coming to his defense. If you are on the same side as Putin, you might want to rethink your position…”
Trump is facing dozens of criminal charges in courtrooms throughout the country, ranging from an alleged hush money cover-up, the alleged mishandling of classified documents and alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The former president and his allies have maintained that the prosecutions are politically motivated and that he has done nothing wrong.