Audience members jeered former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie when Fox News introduced him and the other seven candidates by name at Wednesday’s Republican primary debate — and again as he clashed with Vivek Ramaswamy early in the proceedings.
Christie has distinguished himself from his peers by positioning himself as an unapologetic critic of former President Donald Trump, which has alienated some corners of the party who remember his staunch endorsement of the former president in 2016.
The former Garden State governor seemed unmoved by the hostility.
“Here is the bottom line. Someone’s got to stop normalizing this conduct,” Christie said at the top of the debate’s second hour when asked about the criminal cases against Trump. “Whether or not you believe the criminal charges are right or wrong, the conduct is beneath the office of president of the United States.”
After another chorus of boos, the former federal prosecutor addressed the crowd directly.
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“This is the great thing about this country,” he said. “Booing is allowed, but it doesn’t change the truth.”
At that point, the biotech entrepreneur spoke up.
“President Trump, I believe, was the best president of the 21st century,” said Ramaswamy, who suggested Christie was running for a contributor spot on MSNBC rather than for president. “Honest to God, your claim that Donald Trump is motivated by vengeance and grievance would be a lot more credible if your entire campaign were not based on vengeance and grievance against [him].”
The clash over Trump came about an hour after Christie took a series of verbal swings at Ramaswamy, saying: “I’ve had enough already tonight of a guy who sounds like ChatGPT.”
“The last person in one of these debates, Bret, who stood in the middle of the stage and said, ‘What’s a skinny guy with an odd last name doing up here?’ was Barack Obama,” said Christie, referring to Ramaswamy’s self-deprecating opening statement.
“And I’m afraid we’re dealing with the same type of amateur.”