Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) on Sunday predicted that by the time the GOP primary candidates are standing on the debate stage in late August, former President Trump would be “out on bail in four different jurisdictions.”
During an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Christie, a GOP presidential rival to Trump, was asked to respond to Trump’s latest comments during a rally Saturday in Erie, Pa., where he said Republicans are “very high class” while “the others” are “dirty sick players.”
“Look, he’s not even clearing that bar,” Christie said.
“It is most likely that, by the time we get on the debate stage on August 23, the front-runner will be out on bail in four different jurisdictions — Florida, Washington, Georgia, and New York.”
Trump faces an indictment in Florida over potentially mishandling classified documents and in New York over a hush money payment. A third indictment is expect in Washington, D.C., over Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election with a similar investigation taking place in Georgia over his effort to do so in that state. Trump did not have to post bail after an appearance in the New York case in Manhattan and he was released on his own recognizance after an appearance in federal court in Florida.
Trump has hinted that he might skip the August debate hosted by Fox News in Milwaukee, arguing that the network is “hostile” and that his strong polling that positions him as the front-runner should mean that he does not need to debate with the other candidates far behind him.
Christie said he is running for president so he can “do big things.”
“There are big things that we need to do here to lower inflation and to create jobs that are good-paying and help people to save money,” Christie said. “And he’s sitting there at a rally for two hours last night talking about his own problems. “
Christie also brought up Trump’s Save America PAC, which spent $3 million of its funds paying Trump’s lawyers and is paying for the lawyers for some witnesses in the classified documents case, multiple news outlets reported last year. The hired legal firm reportedly donated more than $120,000 to the PAC, according to The Washington Post.
“This is a guy who’s putting himself before the country. You can’t put America first with Donald Trump, because it’s Trump first,” he said.