Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) compared former President Donald Trump to Voldemort from the “Harry Potter” series and said he doesn’t have the “guts” to show up to debate.
When asked by debate moderator Megyn Kelly during the fourth Republican presidential debate how Christie expected to win the Republican presidential nomination when voters do “not appear to like” him very much, Christie slammed his opponents for acting as if the race doesn’t include Trump.
“We’re seventeen minutes into this debate and except for your little speech in the beginning, we’ve had these three act as if the race is between the four of us,” Christie said. “The fifth guy, who doesn’t have the guts to show up and stand here, he’s the one who, as you just put it, is way ahead in the polls.”
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.@GovChristie says he’s “in this race because the truth needs to be spoken,” and describes Trump as “a dictator and a bully” who is “unfit to be president.” #GOPDebate
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“Yet, I’ve got these three guys who are all seemingly to compete with, you know, Voldemort, He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named,” Christie continued. “They don’t want to talk about him.”
Trump, who has notably skipped out of participating in each of the Republican debates so far, has remained ahead of opponents entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.
A survey conducted by the Monmouth University Polling Institute between Nov. 30 and Dec. 4 showed Trump receiving 58% of support from voters, while DeSantis received 18%, Haley received 12%, Ramaswamy received 4% and Christie received 2%.
Similarly, a poll conducted by Morning Consult between Dec. 1 and 3 showed Trump receiving 66% of support from voters, DeSantis receiving 13%, Haley receiving 10%, Ramaswamy receiving 6%, and Christie receiving 3%.
“The fact is when you go and you say the truth about somebody who is a dictator, a bully who has taken shots at everybody whether they’ve given him great service or not over time, who dares to disagree with him, then I understand why these three are timid to say anything about him,” Christie added.