Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) accused former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie of being racist for comparing fellow presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy to former President Barack Obama.
Greene's accusation came after the former New Jersey governor compared Ramaswamy to Obama during the first 2024 Republican National Committee debate for using the same line the former president used to describe himself.
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"I was pretty disgusted at Chris Christie and his racist comment towards Vivek Ramaswamy, where he said he was the only skinny guy up there. He compared him to Obama. I honestly thought that was pretty racist,” Greene said during post-debate coverage on Right Side Broadcasting Network on Wednesday night.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) then interjected by saying Ramaswamy should have replied by commenting on the former New Jersey governor's size.
"If I was Vivek I would have turned to Chris Christie and said I knew you would have gotten triggered by the skinny comments. I would have just put it out there that obviously, that was something that hit hard," Gaetz said.
During the debate, Ramaswamy introduced himself by stealing a line from Obama's 2004 Democratic National Convention speech, saying "Who the heck is this skinny guy with a funny last name, and what the heck is he doing in the middle of this debate stage?"
In Obama's 2004 speech, he used the line "the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name" in describing himself.
Christie saw the similarities and called out Ramaswamy after the entrepreneur denied climate change.
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“I’ve had enough already tonight of a guy who sounds like ChatGPT standing up there,” Christie said. “The last person at 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, and I’m afraid we’re dealing with the same type of amateur.”
Greene and Gaetz were both in Milwaukee as surrogates for former President Donald Trump, who opted to skip the debate.