“Someone needs to stop normalizing this behavior” (Video)

Former President Donald Trump did not participate in the Republican primary debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Wednesday, but he still stole the show when a question about his myriad legal troubles led to a war of words between two of his rivals.

They are former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, who clashed after Christie denounced Trump and declared his former friend unfit for president.

“Someone has to stop normalizing this behavior,” Christie said of Trump.

Among likely Republican voters in the primaries, Trump is of course the clear frontrunner – a dominance made even more difficult by the fact that he is currently facing 91 charges of serious crimes in four counts.

Debate moderator Martha MacCallum brought up the issue about halfway through the debate, calling Trump “the elephant that isn’t in the room.”

“If former President Trump were convicted in court, would you still support him as your party’s nominee?” she asked.

While most of the nominees on stage raised their hands to signal their support for Trump, Chris Christie waved aside. MacCallum noted that Christie was “a little late” in expressing his support.

After attempting to deflect, Christie suggested that his gesture was actually a rejection of the question, adding: “The bottom line is this: someone needs to stop normalizing this behavior.”

He continued, “Well… and whether you believe the charges are right or wrong, this conduct is beneath the dignity of the President of the United States.” As the crowd began to boo, he continued, “Hey, and you know, that’s the great thing about this country. Booing is allowed, but it doesn’t change the truth.”

Christie reiterated: “It doesn’t change the truth.”

Ramaswamy then interjected: “President Trump was, in my opinion, the best president of the 21st century. That is a fact. And Chris Christie, honestly, your claim that Donald Trump is motivated by revenge and resentment would be much more credible if your entire campaign was not based on revenge and resentment against one man,” he said.

“We are walking on thin ice and cannot create a precedent where the party in power uses police force to accuse its political opponents. This is wrong,” Ramaswamy continued.

Christie did not let himself be fobbed off and went to Ramaswamy about his book: “You have very different things to say about Donald Trump (in your book) than you have tonight.” When Ramaswamy rejected this claim, Christie continued: “It is the truth, and I have read it, and I know, by the way, you know what, I know a lot and I know it much better than you.”

He added: “You have never done anything to advance the interests of this government except to stand as a candidate tonight.”

Watch the heated exchange between Christie and Ramaswamy in the video above.

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