Trump Critic Christie Publicity Tour Amps Up: CNN, HBO

TRENTON – Part book tour and part soft launch for a prospective 2024 presidential campaign, former Gov. Chris Christie is getting a lot of attention this week for his eagerness to criticize former President Donald Trump.

Christie lost a bid for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination that was captured by Trump, then was among Trump’s early endorsers and an ally, even helping him with debate preparation last year. His critics are continuing to roast him online for his new views on the former president.

But in a Republican Party where few people say a negative word about Trump, Christie is one of the party’s highest-profile Trump critics. In a speech last weekend to the Republican Jewish Coalition, he warned that it’s time to move on from Trump – prompting Trump to fire back.

And there’s more publicity where that came from.

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CNN will air "Being … Chris Christie" next Monday at 10 a.m. For sake of clarity, since this has been misunderstood online, it’s not an entire series about Christie. It’s the second episode in a series that debuted with an episode about Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., in August.

From CNN’s announcement: “Find out what it is like to be one of America’s most well-known Republicans, a longtime friend and high-profile supporter of former President Donald Trump, turned harsh critic of Trump’s big lie. In their in-depth interview, Christie opens up about trying to use his signature blunt talk to rid the GOP of the conspiracy theories that Trump perpetuates, battling for his life in the ICU with COVID, his upcoming book, his struggles with his weight, and the future of his party and his own political ambitions.”

HBO will air an interview with Christie as part of “Axios on HBO” at 6 p.m. Sunday. Axios published excerpts Wednesday, including this line from Christie responding to Trump’s criticism of him: “I'm not gonna get into a back-and-forth with Donald Trump. But what I will say is this: When I ran for reelection in 2013, I got 60% of the vote. When he ran for reelection, he lost to Joe Biden."

The appearances coincide with next week’s publication of Christie’s new book, "Republican Rescue: Saving the Party from Truth Deniers, Conspiracy Theorists, and the Dangerous Policies of Joe Biden."