Christie, Barr compare Trump to a child

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) and former Attorney General Bill Barr each took jabs at former President Trump on Sunday, comparing him to a child and casting him as unfit to lead the country.

Trump was recently indicted on 37 counts of criminal conduct related to his handling of classified documents, including obstruction of a federal investigation and willful retention of national defense information. 

The indictment against him outlines the lengths he allegedly took to retain classified information, despite repeated efforts by the federal government to retrieve the documents. Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges and maintains his innocence. 

Barr, who served as Trump’s attorney general toward the end of his presidency, called Trump a “consummate narcissist,” who “constantly engages in reckless conduct.” Barr said Republicans should carefully consider whether he is the best candidate to lead their party and compared Trump to a 9-year-old. 

“He will always put his own interests — and gratifying his own ego — ahead of everything else, including the country’s interest. There’s no question about it,” Barr said in an interview with Robert Costa on CBS News’s “Face the Nation.”

“He’s like a 9-year-old, defiant 9-year-old kid, who’s always pushing the glass toward the edge of the table, defying his parents to stop him from doing it. It’s a means of self-assertion and exerting his dominance over other people. And he’s a very petty individual who will always put his interests ahead of the country’s, his personal gratification of his ego. But our country can’t be a therapy session for a troubled man like this,” Barr said of Trump. 

In a separate interview Sunday with Jake Tapper on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Christie, the former New Jersey governor and current Republican presidential primary candidate, dismissed Trump’s attacks on former officials he personally appointed to serve in his Cabinet. Christie compared Trump to a “petulant child” lashing out at those who disagree with him. 

Christie, who helped both of Trump’s previous bids at the White House, recalled Trump’s promise in 2016 to hire the best people to work in his Cabinet and that he would know how to manage them well. Christie then listed various officials who left his administration and who subsequently faced a barrage of insults about their intelligence and competence. 

“Donald Trump, if you believe what he said when they left, that means he didn’t pick the very best people and doesn’t know how to pick personnel. If you believe what — about them what he said at the beginning, the great stuff, then this guy is the worst manager in the history of the American presidency,” Christie said of Trump.

“Either way, Republicans should listen to what he says. He’s a petulant child when someone disagrees with him. … If you disagree with Donald Trump, the petulant child comes out, and he calls you names,” Christie added.