Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was booed on Friday after he accused former President Donald Trump of failing the Republican Party.
Speaking at the annual Faith and Freedom Conference, a gathering of top conservatives, the 2024 GOP hopeful said the former president let both America and the Republican Party down.
“I’m running because he’s let us down,” Christie said as the audience began to boo him. “You can boo all you want.”
Trump has not taken responsibility for his past mistakes as he seeks another term in the White House, being the leading candidate for the Republican nomination.
“But here’s the thing, our faith teaches us that people have to take responsibility for what they do,” Christie added. “People have to stand up and take accountability for what they do.”
Christie has emerged as a vocal critic of Trump after the former president refused to acknowledge the results of the 2020 presidential election. The former governor was part of Trump’s presidential transition team and helped him prepare for the 2020 presidential debates.
However, Christie launched his long-shot bid for the White House by attacking his former boss and friend, saying he is the only Republican in the jammed field who is willing to take on Trump.
“The person I am talking about who is obsessed with the mirror, who never admits a mistake, who never admits a fault, and will always find someone else — and something else — to blame for whatever goes wrong, but finds every reason to take credit for anything that goes right, is Donald Trump,” Christie said.
However, the boos may be a sign of things to come for Christie. Recent polling has Trump leading the field with 52 percent of the vote while Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is a distant second with 21 percent. Christie is at 2 percent, according to a RealClearPolitics average of polls.
