Christie Gets Applause, Cheers After Being Booed on Stage for Criticizing Trump

Republican presidential candidate and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie speaks during the Faith and Freedom Road to Majority conference at Hilton in Washington on June 23, 2023. (Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times)

Presidential candidate Chris Christie responded to boos from a conservative crowd following his comments about former President Donald Trump by urging voters to consider Trump’s character.

When asked about the reaction by part of the audience at the Faith and Freedom Coalition on June 23, the former New Jersey governor reiterated some of his statements from the address, saying, "Just listen to what I said and think about it, and if you still feel the same way, that’s your choice.

“You have the absolute freedom to vote for wherever you want and support whoever you want,” Christie went on. “But first, you need to hear the truth. And I don’t think anybody in that room can honestly say, given [Trump’s] conduct, that he’s a person of character. He is not.

“Now, if they care to dismiss the issue of character in deciding a president United States, I think that’s wrong, but it’s their choice.”

Christie’s Controversial Comments

The former governor of New Jersey focused his speech on Trump’s “character,” saying he “let us down” by not taking responsibility for his mistakes.

“He’s let us down because he’s unwilling to take responsibility for any of the mistakes that were made, any of the faults that he has, and any of the things that he’s done,” Christie said. “And that is not leadership, everybody; that is a failure of leadership.”

Some people in the crowd booed him when he spoke, but he stuck by his opinion of Trump. Others in the crowd applauded his speech.

“You can boo all you want, 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,” Christie said, earning more cheers than he received boos.

Christie went on to rail against Trump for the former president’s using mudslinging tactics against the former governor, “even after he offered me White House chief of staff,” Christie said.

“I will tell you, if all you do, all you do is disagree with someone, and in return, you get that kind of treatment ... doing those kinds of things makes our country smaller,” Christie said. “It makes our country smaller, and it makes us lesser.”

Earlier Anti-Trump Comments

Shortly after declaring his candidacy Christie launched into his attacks on Trump, saying on June 6 that the former president was self-centered, among other comments.

Christie, a former federal prosecutor, was among the congested field of 2016 Republican presidential candidates that Trump eventually beat for the Republican nomination. Now that Trump is running for the White House for a third time, his current opponents have begun to criticize him.

Christie, who kicked off his campaign with a town hall at Saint Anselm College, indicated that other leading Republicans have been reluctant to challenge Trump or even mention his name frequently while campaigning, whereas he made it obvious that he has no such qualms.

“A lonely, self-consumed, self-serving mirror hog is not a leader,” Christie said.

Adding, “The person I am talking about, who is obsessed with the mirror, who never admits a mistake, who never admits a fault, who always finds someone else and something else to blame for whatever goes wrong—but finds every reason to take credit for anything that goes right—is Donald Trump.”

Just days later, Christie drew attention on June 12 when he condemned Trump during a primetime CNN appearance: “He’s angry, and he’s vengeful, and he’s sad,” Christie said of the former president.

During the same interview, Christie spoke of the recent indictment handed down by Jack Smith, putting Trump in the Department of Justice’s crosshairs.

“It is a very tight, very detailed, evidence-laden indictment, and the content in there is awful,” he said, citing his own experience as a former federal prosecutor.

He stated that he does not accept the argument that Trump retained documents for potential extortion purposes, instead arguing that the incident amounted to Trump’s “vanity run amok.”

“He cannot live with the fact that he lost to Joe Biden,” Christie said. “He wants to continue to pretend he’s president,” Christie added, suggesting that was the reason for Trump retaining the documents.

Christie called the indictment “devastating” in another recent CNN appearance saying, “People are going to argue about who should or should not have been indicted and who should be tried.

“But let me say this: the bigger issue for our country is this the type of conduct that we want from someone who wants to be president of the United States,” Christie said in an interview with CNN anchor Jake Tapper.

A recent Emerson College poll showed Trump with 59 percent support in a potential Republican primary, with runner-up Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis holding 21 percent. Christie polled just 2.4 percent.

Trump’s campaign did not immediately respond to The Epoch Times’ request for comment.

Nathan Worcester contributed to this report.