Christie says he expected boos for attacking Trump at conservative conference

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said Sunday he expected to get booed at a Faith & Freedom event Saturday when he criticized former President Trump in front of an audience largely supportive of the former president.

“Look, people understand that folks need to take responsibility for what they do. And my message to the folks at Faith and Freedom – which did get some good reaction, too, but, of course, I expected the boos. That is predominantly a Trump crowd, but they need to hear the truth, too – that character is the single most important element of a president of the United States,” Christie said in an interview on ABC News “This Week.”

“Because you can’t know every issue that’s going to come across the president’s desk,” Christie added. “It’s not a litmus test with check boxes in them. What you need to know is: What is the character of that person?”

Christie, who has been a vocal opponent of Trump continued his criticism of the former president Saturday, when he said of Trump, “That is not leadership, everybody. That is a failure of leadership.”

“You can boo all you want,” he continued, responding to the crowd’s initial reaction. “But here’s the thing. Our faith teaches us that people have to take responsibility for what they do. People have to stand up and take accountability for what they do.”

His comments were met with mixed reaction Saturday – some booing and some applause. Asked in the interview Sunday whether he thinks his anti-Trump message is resonating, he told Jonathan Karl, ”Absolutely evidence it’s resonating.”

“I’ve been in the race for less than three weeks and have already in third place in New Hampshire, only four points behind Ron DeSantis, who’s been in the race for a longer time and is supposed to be the co-front-runner,” he continued. 

In the latest poll, conducted by NBC News, 51 percent of GOP primary voters said Trump would be their first pick in a 2024 primary, up five points from April. Christie was not on the April poll, but he now is polling at 5 percent. Since April, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) dropped by 9 points. 

Christie, a former Trump ally, has not held back in attacking the former president’s character and calling him a loser, pointing to his track record in the most recent elections.

“He is a three-time loser. We do not need our party to go to a fourth loss,” Christie said on ABC News, stressing he does not want four more years of this administration. “That’s the stakes here. It’s not about whether you think Donald Trump has been treated fairly or not by the media or by elements of the Justice Department. It is about whether he is a man of character who can lead this party to victory, and I don’t believe he can.”