Chris Christie has been desperately trying to get himself into the news lately, and in what appears to be a gear-up for a 2024 run, the failed presidential candidate recently did an exclusive interview with Axios. You know, because nothing screams “vote for me” like feeding fodder to a leftwing outlet. To be fair, Christie is nowhere close to the only Republican to make that mistake and he won’t be the last.

Yet, it was when Donald Trump came up that things got the most contentious. The interviewer asked Christie about a prior slight involving the former governor having a 9% approval rating by the time he left office. Here was his response.

.@GovChristie swipes back at Trump after approval rating dig:

“When I ran for re-election in 2013, I got 60% of the vote. When he ran for re-election, he lost to Joe Biden.”

Watch the full interview Sunday at 6pm on @hbo and @hbomax. pic.twitter.com/ji7k913NaN

— Axios (@axios) November 11, 2021

This is what unchecked arrogance pushing one into a false sense of comfort gets you. Is there anything dumber a possible 2024 hopeful could do than try to make Trump an enemy this early in the game? That’s not to say you can’t disagree with the former president on issues and approach, but Christie’s shot is not only dumb politically, it’s also highly nonsensical as well.

Yes, Christie won re-election in New Jersey in 2013. But last I checked, he got blown out by Trump during the 2016 primary. Past that, does he really think conservatives care that he was a fairly liberal governor in a deep blue state? Is that supposed to be a positive thing? Because my personal preference is that we stop nominating people from Democrat bastions. That’s part of the reason I’ve been so supportive of Ron DeSantis. I want the party to elevate those who have proven they can govern as conservatives under the glare of scrutiny, not those whose entire careers are a series of compromises so as not to tick off liberal wine moms.

Besides, who exactly is clamoring for a Chris Christie 2024 run? Is there a constituency for that out there and I’ve just missed it? I don’t believe so, and I have no idea why he’s feeding into this delusion that he can resurrect his political career. If Trump runs, Christie will get trounced. If Trump doesn’t run, Christie will get trounced. There is no path forward for this tubby hot-head who consistently tries to play both sides. His chance was in 2012 and he blew it.

Anyway, I’m sure we’ll be getting a statement from Trump soon in response to Christie’s jab. That should make for some late-week entertainment.