Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says he will decide within two weeks whether to join the 2024 presidential field and accused ex-President Donald Trump of being too afraid to debate his GOP rivals.
Mr. Christie, a Republican who endorsed Mr. Trump after falling short in the 2016 GOP primary, outlined his plans during an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
Mr. Trump dominates the current primary field and says he might not join the first two Republican debates, claiming the moderators are biased against him and there is no point in risking his lead.
“If his leadership is so outstanding, then his lead will only increase if he gets on the stage, not decrease. But obviously, he’s afraid,” Mr. Christie told Mr. Hewitt on Wednesday. “He’s afraid to get on the stage against people who are serious. And I’m sorry to see that he’s that afraid of it.”
Mr. Christie, who served two terms as governor in a blue state, says someone in the GOP field needs to be the attack dog against Mr. Trump in this election cycle.
Mr. Christie is already chiding Mr. Trump’s reluctance to join the first debates this year in Wisconsin and California.
“If he’s that afraid of that, how can we count on him to do any better with President Xi [Jinping] than the failures he had in his first term with China? How can we expect him to do any better with Putin than having set the groundwork for the invasion of Ukraine, which his conduct towards Putin certainly helped to establish?” Mr. Christie said. “This is a guy who seems like he’s afraid. And if he’s afraid, he has no business being president.”
Mr. Christie was a key backer of Mr. Trump in 2016, having provided a pivotal endorsement and played a critical role on the transition team. The former governor said Mr. Trump might not want to hit the debate stage this time because he is out of ideas.
“To the extent that President Trump doesn’t want to participate in them, people should wonder why,” Mr. Christie said. “And I think it’s because he doesn’t have a lot of serious answers for the problems that are facing the country right now. All he wants to do is go back and re-prosecute the 2020 election because his feelings are hurt. He’s a child in that regard.”
For his part, Mr. Trump says he is the man to beat. He’s pointed to Rasmussen polls that suggest he could defeat President Biden in a rematch and is slamming his main rival — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — while outlining plans to secure the southern border.
“I’m leading by 40 points,” Mr. Trump told WABC radio in New York last week. “People don’t debate when they have these massive leads.”
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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