Global Courant
Former Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie said the 2024 Republican presidential rival Donald Trump is motivated by fear.
It is fear of prison in particular, as the former president faces a 37-count federal indictment in Florida for his alleged mishandling of classified documents and for further possible charges related to his efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 Capitol bombing.
“He’s scared,” Christie told the New York Times during the weekend. “Look, a guy like him, the last place you ever want to be in life is in jail because you give up all control, and he’s a complete control freak.”
Trump in newly revealed audio is heard boasting that he kept secret documents after he left the White House and knew they were still classified.
The former chairman has since claimed those comments were just “bravado”.
In other words, he lied about the audio to make people think he still had those documents.
Christie told the Times there is a specific reason for Trump to make that claim.
“(F)or Donald Trump, it’s better to be called a liar than go to jail,” Christie said. “If what it gets him is a card to get out of prison, he’ll take that trade any day.”
Christie also predicted Trump will appear for the Republican presidential debates, despite insisting he won’t.
“His ego won’t allow him not to,” Christie said. “He can’t have a big TV show that he’s not on.”
Trump reportedly considering “counterprogramming” to divert attention from the August event, which will be the first official debate of the presidential primaries season.
Christie was one of the first prominent Republicans to support Trump in 2016, and has remained a loyal member of Trump’s inner circle throughout his presidency, even after contracting a COVID-19 infection while helping Trump prepare for the 2020 debates .
Christie spent a week in intensive careand in recent years has become increasingly critical of the former president, who is heavily favored to win the GOP nomination.
