Chris Christie Warns Second Trump Term Would Be 'National Security Risk'

By Ben Kew | 5:21 PM on February 11, 2024

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Chris Christie continues to step up his attacks against his former political ally Donald Trump.

The former New Jersey governor, who suspended his own 2024 presidential campaign in January, appeared on NBC's 'Meet The Press' on Sunday to discuss Trump's latest comments about Vladimir Putin.

READ: Chris Christie Is Out: Which Candidate Will Benefit the Most?

Speaking at a rally this week, Trump said he would allow Russia to attack an allied country if they had refused to pay their fair share of military spending:

One of the presidents of a big country stood up and said, sir, if we don’t pay and we’re attacked by Russia, will you protect us? I said you didn’t pay, you’re delinquent? He said yes. Say that happened, no, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You have to pay. You have to pay your bills.

Asked by host Kristen Welker what he thought of these comments, Christie described the comments as "absolutely inappropriate" for a man seeking the Oval Office:

This is why I’ve been saying for a long time that he’s unfit to be president of the United States. It’s one thing, and think it’s right for a president to say to a NATO member, hey, you have to pay the dues you need to pay. I think the American people would expect that of a president, but the problem with Donald Trump is he can’t just stop there. He’s got to say I would encourage Russia to do whatever the hell they wanted to you. That is absolutely inappropriate for a president of the United States or a candidate for president of the United States to be saying, but it is consistent with his love for dictators.

Christie went on to argue such comments indicate second Trump presidency would pose a risk to America's national security:

What poses a national security risk is the possibility that he could be president of the United States again. That’s what poses a national security risk because we need to take him at his word, Kristen. And the fact is that as I’ve said earlier, Donald Trump when he came into office in 2016 was scared. He was afraid to be president. He was afraid of mistakes he would make. He knew he was not ready and so as a result he listened to a lot of very good people around him, General Mattis, General Kelly and others about these issues. In a second term, he would not.

Despite his criticism of Trump, Christie confirmed that, unlike other anti-Trump Republicans, he would still not consider voting for Joe Biden:

It is different because this time we don't know if we're going to have a third choice or not. And so I'm not going to make any commitment. The one commitment I will make to you this morning is I'm not voting for Donald Trump under any circumstances.

...

I can't see myself voting for [Biden] because I don't agree with his policies and I have serious questions about his competence to serve another four years. So, do I rule it out? I can't imagine doing it. My guess is, Kristen, if those are the only two choices I'll move to the Senate race in New Jersey, and that'll be my first vote.

Later in the interview, Chris Christie also attacked Republicans' sharing "outrageous" conspiracies about Taylor Swift and her football player boyfriend Travis Kelce.

"Look, Taylor Swift is one of the great American success stories," he said. "We should be celebrating her not having all these crazy conspiracy theories. But this is the kind of thing that Donald Trump brings about."