Audience members booed former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie when Fox News introduced him and the seven other candidates by name in Wednesday’s Republican primary debate, and again when he clashed with Vivek Ramaswamy early in the process.
Christie has distinguished himself from his peers by positioning himself as an unapologetic critic of former President Donald Trump, alienating some corners of the party who remember his staunch endorsement of the former president in 2016.
The former Garden State governor appeared unmoved by the hostility.
“Here is the end result. Someone has to stop normalizing this behavior,” Christie said at the start of the second hour of the debate when asked about the criminal cases against Trump. “Whether or not you believe the criminal charges are right or wrong, the conduct falls below the office of President of the United States.”
After another chorus of boos, the former federal prosecutor addressed the crowd directly.
The former governor had just finished admonishing the conduct of former President Donald Trump when Vivek Ramaswamy interrupted him. AP Photo/Morry Gash
Follow the Post’s coverage of the 2024 Republican debate
“This is the good thing about this country,” he said. “Booing is allowed, but that doesn’t change the truth.”
At that time, the biotech entrepreneur took the floor.
“I think President Trump was the best president of the 21st century,” said Ramaswamy, who suggested that Christie was running for a contributing position at MSNBC instead of president. “Honestly, his claim that Donald Trump is motivated by revenge and grievance would be much more credible if his entire campaign was not based on revenge and grievance against [him].”
Chris Christie and Vivek Ramaswamy squared off on the debate stage.
The confrontation over Trump came about an hour after Christie delivered a series of verbal attacks on Ramaswamy, saying: “I’ve had enough tonight of a guy who sounds like ChatGPT.”
“The last person in one of these debates, Bret, who stood up in the middle of the stage and said, ‘What’s a skinny guy with a weird last name doing up here?’ “It was Barack Obama,” Christie said, referring to Ramaswamy’s initial self-deprecating statement.
“And I’m afraid we’re dealing with the same type of fan.”
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn