Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie responded to former President Donald Trump's mocking of his weight by challenging him to attend the Republican presidential debate later this month.

Christie, the most vocal and adamant critic of Trump in the Republican primary, responded to comments the former president made at a rally in New Hampshire on Tuesday in which he mocked Christie by saying he was "eating right now."

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"Christie — he's eating right now. He can't be bothered," Trump said.

The former president responded to a member of the audience who called Christie a "fat pig" by saying it was not respectful.

"Sir, please do not call him a fat pig. That's very disrespectful. Don't call him — see, I'm trying to be nice — don't call him a fat pig. You can't do it. You can't do that. So now, because you're not allowed to do that, and, therefore, we're not going to do it, OK? We want to be very civil, right?" Trump said.

"If you had the guts, you would show up to the debate and say it to my face," Christie said in response to Trump's remarks.

Late on Tuesday, the former president said on Truth Social that he was "extremely respectful" toward "Sloppy Chris Christie."

"I was extremely respectful of Sloppy Chris Christie today in New Hampshire. During a speech in front of a large crowd of Patriots, somebody shouted out that 'Chris Christie is a fat pig.' Rather than acknowledging that, which many speakers would have done, I said, 'No, No, he is not a fat pig.' I'm sure Chris would have been very happy with my defense of him!" Trump posted.

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Christie is one of several GOP candidates who will face off in the first Republican presidential primary debate on Aug. 23. Trump has not said whether he will participate in the debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The former New Jersey governor is currently in seventh, with 2.3%, in the national polls for the GOP nomination, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average. Trump leads the wide field of candidates with 53.9%, followed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) with 15.9%.