Chris Christie is happy to spar with Trump and call out his election lies, may support him in 2024

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) began publicly testing the appetite for his pitch about a post-Trump Republican Party in a September speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. And he's very clear that President Biden won in 2020 in a new book, Republican Rescue. When Christie reiterated his message about looking forward and fighting Biden now instead of obsessing about 2020 at a Republican Jewish Coalition conference in Nevada last week, former President Donald Trump took note and tried to slap Christie down.
Christie "was just absolutely massacred by his statements that Republicans have to move on from the past, meaning the 2020 Election Fraud," Trump said in statement, adding that "Chris left New Jersey with a less than 9 percent approval rating — a record low, and they didn't want to hear this from him!" (It was actually 19 percent.)
Christie poked back. Trump should focus less on "personal vendetta," he told The New York Times in an interview published Saturday, adding: "I just think if he wants to have that kind of conversation about me then I'm going to point out that I got 60 percent of the vote in a blue state." He told Axios something similar last week.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Christie's book has plenty of anecdotes about Trump, though he told the Times' Maggie Haberman "it's not a book about him." For example, when Christie was getting last rites from his priest during a very serious bout of COVID-19 he contracted after a White House event, he writes, Trump called him in the hospital with one main concern: "Are you gonna say you got it from me?" And Trump was "just beside himself with fury" after former President Barack Obama roasted him over his birtherism in 2011, Christie confirms.
Christie told Haberman he doesn't believe Trump "anticipated that people would cause violence up on Capitol Hill" on Jan. 6, but that Trump's months of false election claims led to the insurrection. He rarely disagreed with Trump on policy, Christie continued, and believes their long friendship makes him a credible Trump critic now. He said he won't make any decision about running in 2024 until after the 2022 midterms and won't let Trump's decision factor into his own, Haberman reports, but he also "would not rule out supporting the former president if he saw no path for himself." Read more at The New York Times.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Jaguar Land Rover’s cyber bailout
Talking Point Should the government do more to protect business from the ‘cyber shockwave’?
-
Russia: already at war with Europe?
Talking Point As Kremlin begins ‘cranking up attacks’ on Ukraine’s European allies, questions about future action remain unanswered
-
Crossword: October 5, 2025
The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
Russia: already at war with Europe?
Talking Point As Kremlin begins ‘cranking up attacks’ on Ukraine’s European allies, questions about future action remain unanswered
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
‘This isn’t just semantics’
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Miami Freedom Tower’s MAGA library squeeze
THE EXPLAINER Plans to place Donald Trump’s presidential library next to an iconic symbol of Florida’s Cuban immigrant community has South Florida divided
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US