Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a longtime Trump critic, called on the Republican presidential candidate to take the party in a “new direction” following Saturday’s assassination attempt.
Christie wrote a guest article in The New York Times on Tuesday expressing his hope that Republicans would move on and that former President Trump “demonstrate a willingness to change.”
“However, Mr. Trump can show a willingness to change not just how we talk to each other, but how we behave. This moment can prove that our country is greater than any political party, but only if we work for it,” Christie wrote road.
“Mr. Trump has an opportunity at this week’s Republican National Convention to curb the Republican Party’s worst rhetorical impulses. He can chart a new direction for the Republican Party and its leadership in the wake of the assassination attempt against him.”
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Christie was critical of Trump’s pick for vice presidential candidate, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, saying he focused on the party “already loyal to him” rather than “reaching out to the broader party.”
“Mr. Vance’s first reaction to the assassination attempt against Mr. Trump was to go straight to the current flawed playbook: demonize the other side and pin the blame on Democrats as if they themselves had pulled the trigger,” Christie said .
The former governor praised Trump for saying in an interview with the New York Post that he wanted to unite the country but was unsure if that was possible, and wrote a new speech for his speech Thursday when he formally accepts the 2024 presidential nomination. .
“This is a start,” Christie said.
Christie supported Trump in 2016 and 2020 but became a vocal critic over time and is running against him in the race for the nomination in 2024, among Republican primary rivals. The former president stood out for his sharp criticism. He never gained any serious support and quit in January.
Christie believes that harsher and more divisive language has led to “gridlock in Congress. Impeachment. Endless, meaningless congressional hearings,” and said it has led to “catastrophizing” politics and elections.
“It is not enough to disagree; we must find in that disagreement a distrust of the other side, a hatred of our fellow Americans with whom we disagree, and a desire to demonstrate the justice of our side’s way of seeing the world and the other’s Be righteous.
On July 13, 2024, Republican presidential candidate and former President Trump was ousted from the stage at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Anna Chanmemaker/Getty Images)
Christie was critical of those who claim Trump carried out an assassination attempt on him, including suggestions the attempt was a conspiracy theory or an inside job.
Christie said “we are all to blame” for our current political state. .
Despite the differences, Christie said the country needs to move forward.
“Our differences have always been our strength as a country, not our weakness,” Christie said, adding that the assassination attempt “puts us at a crossroads.”
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