Trump Slammed For Threatening Chris Christie With Criminal Probe After He Criticized Him On TV
AP Photo/Evan Vucci
President Donald Trump ignited a firestorm of shock and anger on Sunday night when he threatened to probe former New Jersey governor and one-time close ally, Chris Christie, over alleged past “criminal acts.” Trump’s threat came after Christie joined a Sunday morning political show and criticized Trump for politicizing the Justice Department and weaponizing the power of government against his domestic critics.
“Donald Trump sees himself as the person who gets to decide everything. And he doesn’t care about any separation. In fact, he absolutely rejects the idea that there should be a separation between criminal investigations and the politically elected leader of the United States. This is much different than it’s ever been run before,” Christie told ABC’s Jonathan Karl in a discussion about the recent FBI raid on John Bolton’s home.
Christie also chided the public a bit and argued that Trump explicitly said he would do this during the 2024 campaign.”He told you he was gonna do this, that he was have a justice department that acted as his personal legal representation. And that is what they’re doing,” Christie fumed.
Trump hit back hours later on social media, writing, “I just watched Sloppy Chris Christie be interviewed on a ratings challenged “News” Show, “This Week With George Slopadopolus,” on ABC Fake News (By the way, what the “hell” happened to Jonathan Karl’s hair? He looks absolutely terrible!”
The president added:
It’s amazing what bad ratings, on a failed television show that was forced to pay me $16,000,000, can do to one’s appearance!). Can anyone believe anything that Sloppy Chris says? Do you remember the way he lied about the dangerous and deadly closure of the George Washington Bridge in order to stay out of prison, at the same time sacrificing people who worked for him, including a young mother, who spent years trying to fight off the vicious charges against her. Chris refused to take responsibility for these criminal acts. For the sake of JUSTICE, perhaps we should start looking at that very serious situation again? NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DJT
Trump’s threat to investigate Christie, who led his transition team in 2016 and remained a close ally until January 6th, led many critics and observers to argue that Trump is doing exactly what Christie was criticizing him for.
Journalist Amanda Carpenter shared Trump’s post and replied, “Chris Christie was investigated. This is Trump threatening Christie for his speech. Period.”
Eric Columbus, a former Obama DOJ appointee, noted the statute of limitations on prosecuting Christie for a crime allegedly committed before he worked for Trump has likely expired: “The conduct at issue took place in 2013. The trials of Christie aides took place in 2016. Trump became president in 2017, did nothing. The statute of limitations for any conceivable federal crime expired in 2018.”
The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols added, “I will never cease being shocked that millions of Americans think it’s normal for the commander in chief to talk like a nine-year-old with a behavioral disorder.”
Former GOP congressman turned Democrat Senate candidate, Joe Walsh, replied, “At one level, it’s comical. Donald Trump is the biggest crybaby in human history. But at another level, it’s dangerous. He continues to use the powers of his office to intimidate, harass, threaten, defund, and try to destroy the livelihoods of individuals and companies. Do not normalize this.”
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