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Chris Christie slammed former President Donald Trump as a "control freak" who is "scared" of going to jail amid his ongoing legal troubles in an interview with The New York Times published on Saturday.
Christie, a former New Jersey governor, is among those Republicans challenging Trump for the party's presidential nomination in the 2024 election. A onetime supporter of the former president, Christie has emerged as one of his fiercest critics within the GOP field.
Christie has offered sharp condemnation of Trump amid his ongoing legal troubles. The former president was indicted last month in the Department of Justice's (DOJ) case into whether he mishandled classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate, and was previously indicted in a case surrounding alleged campaign finance violations during his 2016 presidential campaign. Trump has denied accusations of wrongdoing and has pleaded not guilty in both cases. Meanwhile, he remains the frontrunner to win the nomination despite these legal woes.
During his interview with the Times, Christie was asked about what Trump's mental state may be amid these legal troubles. Although Trump has publicly maintained his innocence and confidence that he will be exonerated, a number of his former allies, such as his former chief of staff John Kelly, and others have suggested he may be more scared than he lets on.
Christie voiced agreement that Trump is nervous as he awaits his trials.
"He's scared. Look, a guy like him, the last place you ever want to be in life is in jail because you give up all control, and he's a complete control freak," he said.
Christie also said he believes Trump will ultimately attend the GOP debates due to his "ego" despite previously saying he would not participate in Fox News' upcoming debate for the Republican presidential candidates because "all they do is promote" his top rival Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
"I think that he'll show up at the debates because his ego won't permit him not to," Christie said. "He can't have a big TV show that he's not on. He's on Truth Social going bonkers, and no one's paying attention? He won't deal well with that."
Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign for comment via email.
Christie's chances of taking down Trump, according to the polls
Christie is among the Republican candidates who has been willing to directly go after Trump, despite his remaining popularity with large swaths of the Republican electorate. He has mocked Trump as a "spoiled baby" and the "cheapest person I've ever met," calling on Republicans to move away from Trump and his style of politics.
However, many Republican voters are still backing the former president, recent polls have found.
A Fox News poll conducted from June 23 to 26 among 391 registered voters found Trump leading the national primary with 56 percent of the vote. His closest competitor, DeSantis, secured 22 percent, while only 1 percent of Republican voters said they planned to back Christie. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Meanwhile, FiveThirtyEight's aggregate of recent polls similarly shows Trump leading with an average of 52 percent. Christie's is averaging support from 2.7 percent of Republicans across all recent polls, according to that aggregate.
About the writer
Andrew Stanton is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in Maine. His role is reporting on U.S. politics and social issues. ... Read more