Former Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie spoke with conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt on Wednesday, conceding that the former president simply "doesn’t want to do them."
At the time, Hewitt had asked for Christie’s position on the debates between 2024 GOP candidates, in reference to reports indicating Trump would not be participating in primary debates.
“Anybody who’s serious about wanting to be president of the United States should be on the stage for every one of them,” said Christie.
“And to the extent that President Trump doesn’t want to participate in them, people should wonder why,” continued Christie. "And I think it’s because he doesn’t have a lot of serious answers for the problems that are facing the country right now. All he wants to do is go back and re-prosecute the 2020 election because his feelings are hurt. He’s a child in that regard."
Hewitt later pointed out that Trump has a 30 to 40-point lead over other GOP candidates when recent polls were taken into account, adding that Trump indicated he shouldn't participate since he's polling by a "massive lead."
“I’m sorry to see that Donald Trump feels like if he gets on the stage, he’s at risk of losing his lead. If, in fact, his ideas are so great, if his leadership is so outstanding, then his lead will only increase if he gets on the stage, not decrease. But obviously, he’s afraid. He’s afraid to get on the stage against people who are serious. And I’m sorry to see that he’s that afraid of it,” explained Christie.
“If he really cares about the country, and I have deep questions about that, but if he really cares about the country, then he’s going to get up there, and he shouldn’t be afraid.”
Christie, who previously ran in the 2016 presidential election, said he would decide whether to launch his own presidential campaign in the next two weeks. The former governor is polling at just 1% to 2%, according to a RealClearPolitics poll.