OAN’s Brooke Mallory
1:08 PM – Thursday, September 28, 2023
During the second GOP presidential primary debate on Wednesday night, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie addressed former President Donald Trump and criticized him again, but this time for skipping the podium.
“I want to look at the camera right now and tell you, Donald, I know you’re watching. You can’t help yourself. I know you’re watching, okay? And you’re not here tonight not because of polls and not because of your indictments. You’re not here tonight because you’re afraid of being on this stage and defending your record,” Christie said from the podium.
“You’re ducking these things. And let me tell you what’s going to happen, you keep doing that, no one up here is going to call you Donald Trump anymore, we’re gonna call you ‘Donald Duck,’” Christie said.
Trump had missed the first Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee last month in favor of airing an interview with Tucker Carlson as counterprogramming.
Additionally, Trump was called out by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is also running for the 2024 GOP presidential bid, for skipping the anticipated Republican National Convention (RNC) gathering.
“Donald Trump is missing in action. He should be on this stage tonight,” DeSantis said.
The 45th president leads the rest of the GOP field in every single national online survey. On Wednesday, he chose to speak in Michigan instead of attending the debate.
Trump maintained that his leading position was a justification for not needing to travel to California with his GOP rivals to debate and win over more voters in the presidential race.
He is also still running for office despite a number of legal issues, including four felony charges. Ironically, Trump’s indictments have only benefited his polling numbers and have even earned the respect of many groups that claim to not typically vote Republican, until now.
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