Christie: Events around White House after 2020 election were a 'disgrace'
GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie took aim at former President Trump shortly after he was indicted for the third time Tuesday, saying that the events around the White House after the 2020 election were a “disgrace.”
“The events around the White House from election night forward are a stain on our country’s history & a disgrace to the people who participated,” Christie posted on X, formerly known as Twitter. “This disgrace falls the most on Donald Trump. He swore an oath to the Constitution, violated his oath & brought shame to his presidency.”
Trump was indicted Tuesday for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, and now faces four federal charges including conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding and conspiracy against rights. The 45-page indictment says Trump engaged in a campaign of “dishonesty, fraud and conceit” to obstruct a “bedrock function” of a democracy.
Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, has been a staunch critic of the former president in the years since the 2020 election and has blasted Trump recently for a separate indictment involving the alleged mishandling of classified documents. He predicted Sunday that Trump could be “out on bail in four different jurisdictions” by the time the first GOP presidential debate rolls around in August.
Other Republican presidential candidates released statements shortly after the indictment was unsealed Tuesday. GOP presidential candidates Will Hurd and Asa Hutchinson also criticized the former president over the indictment, while Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis used it as an opportunity to vow he will “end the weaponization of the federal government.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence condemned Trump Tuesday over the new charges, noting that it “means more talk about January 6th and more distractions.”
“Today’s indictment serves as an important reminder: anyone who puts himself over the Constitution should never be President of the United States,” Pence said in a statement.