Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced his candidacy for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination on Wednesday. During his campaign launch, he appeared to take a cheap shot at Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, eliciting muted murmurs from a small audience.
“The grift from this family is breathtaking. Jared Kushner and Ivanka Kushner walk out of the White House, and months later get $2 billion from the Saudis,” he said, going on to criticize Kushner’s role in then-President Donald Trump’s White House.
“You think it’s because he’s some kind of investing genius? Or do you think it’s because he was sitting next to the president of the United States for four years doing favors for the Saudis? That’s your money. That’s your money he stole and gave it to his family. You know what that makes us? A banana republic,” he said.
Notably, during his presidency, Donald Trump lost approximately $1 billion in personal wealth and never accepted a dime in salary, instead donating his $400,000 annual salary to various government agencies.
Christie takes nasty cheap shot at Ivanka Trump:
"The grift from his family is breathtaking. Jared Kushner & Ivanka walk out of White House and months later get $2 billion from the Saudis. Do you think it was because she's some kind of investing genius?"pic.twitter.com/23OOLhCboz
— Martin Walsh (@MWalshUS) June 8, 2023
The former Republican governor was presumably referring to the Saudi-backed Public Investment Fund’s $2 billion investment in Kushner’s firm A Fin Management LLC (Affinity).
The Trump campaign responded by releasing a video of Chris Christie superimposed at a buffet holding a plate of food, a probable jab at Christie’s weight.
Former President Trump responded on his Truth Social platform: “How many times did Chris Christie use the word SMALL? Does he have a psychological problem with SIZE? Actually, his speech was SMALL, and not very good. It rambled all over the place, and nobody had a clue of what he was talking about. Hard to watch, and boring, but that’s what you get from a failed Governor (New Jersey) who left office with a 7% approval rating and then got run out of New Hampshire. This time, it won’t be any different!”
In an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America” following the debut of his campaign, Christie appeared well aware that the path to the nomination “directly through” Trump.
“There’s only one lane to the Republican nomination for president, and Donald Trump is at the head of it, and you have to go right through him and make the case against him. And that’s what I intend to do,” Christie said.
This is his second run for president. Christie appears to ascend to the top of the GOP field in 2016, only to be defeated by Trump, who went on to defeat Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
On Tuesday, he launched his campaign with a town hall-style engagement at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire. During the event, he positioned himself as an alternative to Trump, appealing to voters with his unique approach and policies.
More on this story via Conservative Brief:
He remained on message Wednesday, telling ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos that Trump and his campaign team have “put themselves before the American people.” CONTINUE READING…
