Former President Trump swiped at former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) during a speech in New Hampshire on Thursday, saying he’s “got a big mouth — that’s all he’s got.”
Trump highlighted his large leads in most hypothetical Republican primary polls, noting that his top current and potential competitors like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence and former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley are far behind. He also said Christie, whom he called “sloppy Chris Christie,” has polled around 1 percent in most polls.
“Which by the way is substantially better than he did seven years ago on the same stage against me right here in New Hampshire,” Trump said, referring to Christie’s presidential run in 2016, when Trump was elected.
“Got a big mouth — that’s all he’s got,” he added.
Christie was formerly an ally of Trump and helped prepare him ahead of the 2020 presidential election debates with President Biden. But Christie has become a critic of Trump since the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, blaming his false claims of voter fraud in the election as the impetus for the attack.
Christie has said that he is considering a presidential run against Trump in 2024. He said at the end of last month that he would decide in the next 60 days whether to run.
Christie has also criticized other current and potential Republican candidates for being afraid to attack Trump, saying at a town hall in New Hampshire last week that he does not believe other Republicans would be harmed by going after Trump.
“I don’t believe that Republican voters penalize people who criticize Trump,” he said. “If you think you’re a better person to be president than Donald Trump, then you better make that case.”
Trump also went after New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R), another potential Republican presidential candidate, calling him a “nasty guy.” He criticized Sununu for deciding against running for Senate in the state against Sen. Maggie Hassan (D) in the 2022 midterm elections.
“He could’ve really made an impact. He could’ve run for the Senate. He probably would’ve easily won because of the family name, would’ve won. And that would have been a tremendous thing. Instead, he wants to play games with running for president,” Trump said.
Sununu said in February that a potential 2024 presidential run would be “an opportunity to change things” and bring a “little better attitude” to Washington, D.C. He said on Sunday that Trump is putting himself in a position to be a “four-time loser” in 2024, pointing to Republican losses in congressional races in 2018 and 2022 and Trump’s reelection defeat in 2020.