Christie criticizes Trump’s choice of Vance as vice president

Former Republican presidential candidate and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie speaks at a campaign rally at Mitchell Hill BBQ Grill and Brew in Rochester, NH, Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) publicly criticized former President Trump for appointing Republican Senator JD Vance (Ohio) as his vice president, arguing that the selection was inconsistent with his new message of unity.

“This is clearly not a message of unity in the face of what could have been a national tragedy,” Christie wrote in an opinion piece in the New York Times on Tuesday.

Trump has been pushing a message of national “unity” following Saturday’s assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. Christie wrote that Vance had portrayed Trump’s new messages in a bad light. The former president is expected to continue those messages when he closes the Republican National Convention (RNC) with a revised speech on the issue.

“Mr. Trump has an opportunity to curb some of the worst rhetorical impulses at the Republican Party convention this week,” he said. “The early signs are anything but promising.”

“The selection of Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio as Mr. Trump’s vice presidential running mate places even greater strain on the part of the party already fully committed to him, rather than appealing to the broader party and beyond,” Christie continued.

Christie specifically wrote that he disagreed with Vance’s response to Saturday’s shooting. In a post to X on Saturday night, Vance attributed the assassination attempt to the Biden campaign’s anti-Trump rhetoric.

“The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs,” Vance wrote. “This rhetoric led directly to the assassination of President Trump.”

Blaming Biden’s rhetoric for the assassination has since spread widely in the Republican Party, followed by prominent figures such as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana). The shooter’s motive is still unknown.

Christie argued that the strategy came from a “flawed script.”

“Too many of the loudest voices in our national discourse today have an incentive to portray their opponents not only as wrong, but as out to destroy everything we hold dear,” he said.

He also argued that political violence has become a “political norm.” Christie distanced himself from Trump after January 6, 2021, and highlighted the Capitol riot as an example of recent political violence in his commentary.

“It is not enough that this is just a temporary call for unity. This change must go beyond this week, next month and the elections in November to bring about real transformation,” he concluded.