Republican presidential candidate and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie says that insults from former President Donald Trump have made him “concerned” about the ex-president’s mental health.
Trump repeatedly insulted Christie during an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on Wednesday morning, calling his 2024 rival “a slob” and “a crazed lunatic” who “couldn’t run for dog catcher.” The former president claimed that Christie is “a very disturbed person” who is upset because he did not get “a job” in the Trump administration.
During an interview with Newsmax TV’s Eric Bolling on Wednesday night, Christie said that he felt “bad” for Trump, who has this year pleaded not guilty to 91 felony criminal charges. Christie, the initial head of Trump’s 2016 transition team, recalled his formerly close relationship with the ex-president before listing off a series of Trump administration jobs that he claimed he had been offered.
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“I feel bad for Donald,” Christie said. “He’s on there saying I’m not very smart, that I’m very deranged … He didn’t think that in 2018 when he offered me White House chief of staff. He didn’t think that in 2016 when he made me chairman of his transition … He didn’t think that when he offered me secretary of Homeland Security twice and secretary of Labor.”
Just before expressing his mental health concerns, Christie also noted that he had supported Trump’s candidacy in both 2016 and 2020 and helped the former president prepare for debates with former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Joe Biden.
“If I was so useless and dumb and deranged, how did all that stuff happen?” Christie asked. “It’s sad, he’s under a lot of stress and a lot of pressure. And saying these things makes me really concerned for his mental health.”
Despite Christie having once been one of the former president’s closest allies, their relationship became increasingly hostile following Trump’s loss in the 2020 presidential election.
Shortly after the election, the former governor began to criticize Trump for repeatedly pushing false narratives that Biden’s win was “stolen” and for his actions surrounding the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Last month, Trump and Christie urged each other to drop out of the 2024 election. Trump, the front-runner by a wide margin, told former Fox News host Tucker Carlson in an online interview that Christie “shouldn’t be running for president” due in part to his low polling numbers.
Christie rejected Trump’s demand in a CNN interview, while suggesting that the former president should “think about getting out of this race” instead, citing what is likely to be his busy court schedule in four separate criminal proceedings.