Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is seeking the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, on Monday lashed out at former President Donald Trump in the wake of his indictment in the classified documents case.
Speaking at a CNN town hall hosted by Anderson Cooper, Christie warned that another Trump presidency would be worse than his first term in office because, he claimed, Trump doesn't care about the American people.
Christie accused Trump of having shown “to be completely self-centered, completely self-consumed and doesn’t give a damn about the American people, in my view," especially after he left office.
"I am convinced if he goes back to the White House, that the next four years will be all about him setting scores, Anderson, with everybody who he thinks wasn’t perfectly nice to him," the former New Jersey governor claimed.
Christie also said he agreed with former Attorney General Bill Barr, who called the 37 criminal charges Trump is facing in the indictment as "very damning."
“It is a very tight, very evidence-laden indictment. The conduct in there is awful,” Christie said when asked about the comments. “I think the former attorney general is absolutely right."
Christie also accused other Republican presidential candidates of not commenting on what's in Trump's indictment because "they're playing games."
"They're playing political games with you," Christie told the audience, adding that he believes other candidates are hoping Trump will "implode" and they'll be able to capitalize.
Voters should instead decide which candidate is "the most honest, forthright leader" and "put that person behind the desk" as president, the former New Jersey governor said.
If elected, Christie vowed not to interfere with the work of the attorney general, saying that he would tell whoever he appointed: "Go do your job, and unless you need me for something, leave me alone. Just go and do your job without fear or favor or partisanship. And that's what we need as an attorney general."