Christie gives Biden debate advice for beating Trump

Former New Jersey Governor and GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie joined a recent episode of the “Hacks on Tap” podcast, where he gave President Biden advice on how to beat former President Trump in their upcoming debates.

Christie, a former Trump ally, was one of the loudest critics of the former president in this cycle’s primary. He told podcast hosts David Axelrod — the former senior adviser to former President Obama — and Mike Murphy, a Republican consultant, that he’d now give Biden similar advice he gave Trump before the 2020 presidential debates.

“It’s the same advice I gave to Trump four years ago that he did not follow,” Christie said. “And I said, ‘Let Biden talk. If you let him talk, he will hang himself.’ And of course, he did the exact opposite and lost the debate.”

Christie said this time around, he’d tell Biden to do the same.

“I don’t care how angry you get about how absolutely incorrect the stuff he’s saying about your record is, about your family, about you personally. Don’t engage, because you will lose that fight,” he said.

Christie argued that if Biden lets Trump talk, voters will ask, “Can’t he shut up?” Biden doesn’t need to say it explicitly, like he did in the 2020 debate; the people watching need to conclude that themselves, he argued.

Biden and Trump are set to debate June 27, and again in September. It’ll be the first debates they each have participated in since the 2020 presidential election, because Trump skipped the primary debates.

Tensions around the debate are high. Trump, who is currently in the last moments of his criminal hush money trial, could be the first former U.S. president to receive a conviction, and Biden has lost support among his base for his actions surrounding the Israel-Hamas war.

Analysts are predicting the election will be just as close as the 2020 race. The earlier-than-usual debates will be a chance for the candidates to showcase their plans for a second term in office, while fending off attacks from the other candidate.

Christie said he thinks Biden should highlight three or four of his strongest points of his presidency and “harp on them over and over and over again.”

He recommended Biden act like he’s in a conversation with the moderator and not debating Trump.

“Let Trump look like the angry guy standing at the fence, yelling at his neighbor, and you’d be the guy on your lawn mower, with your AirPods in, driving around and every once in a while, just wave as you go by and not even paying attention,” Christie said.

“It’s two reasons why. One, you want to emphasize how crazy Trump is. And two, you’re Biden. You don’t want to be … trying to do too much, because you will screw it up,” he continued.