Chris Christie Slams Tucker, Goes Quiet After Carlson Hits Him with a Simple Request
There is an enduring grade school trope about schoolyard bullies that if you are being harassed, the easiest way to end that harassment is to stand up to the bully.
Apparently, the same tactics apply in the adult political world.
Look no further than the blustering longshot 2024 GOP presidential candidate and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Perhaps due to the utter lack of energy surrounding his campaign (the RealClearPolitics polling average has him at a meager 2.5 percent, or less than half of former Vice President Mike Pence’s sad 6 percent), Christie has adopted the game plan of just being an antagonist to the frontrunner in the GOP primary race, former President Donald Trump.
His tactics haven’t exactly been subtle (to be fair, not much about that man is), but they haven’t exactly been effective, either.
No, Christie very much feels like a man without a party flailing about, flimsily hopping from one hot-button issue to another hoping to entice anyone delusional enough to view him as the next president of the United States.
As part of that flailing about, however, the former governor made a tactical error that could all but torpedo his already sinking primary prospects — he ticked off Tucker Carlson.
Yes, for some reason, Christie saw fit to attack someone who’s not running for president for … reasons?
Carlson caught a stray bullet during the candidate’s Sunday appearance on ABC News’ “This Week.”
“You weren’t in Iowa,” ABC News host George Stephanopoulos began. “You weren’t at that Tucker Carlson forum, but if you were being pressed on Ukraine like that, how would you have responded?”
Stephanopoulos was referring to the presidential forums held in Iowa last Friday, which were hosted by Carlson.
The forums were a blistering pulpit, with Carlson not letting flimsy answers go and pressing some top GOP politicians on divisive issues.
Speaking to George Stephanopoulos days after the fact isn’t exactly the same, already putting Christie’s response at a disadvantage — it’s easy to talk big when you won’t be pressed (really) by the moderator.
“I would’ve said, ‘You’ve always been wrong about this, Tucker, and you’re still wrong,'” he said.
“That, in fact, what’s going on, George, is that this is a proxy war with China,” Christie said. “The Chinese are funding the Russian war by buying Russian oil. They’re coordinating with the Iranians to provide lethal weapons to the Russian army. And we could decide when to have this conflict.
“Right now the Ukrainians are willing to fight this fight for themselves if they have our support to be able to win it. If the Chinese watch us back away from Ukraine, as Tucker Carlson and others would advocate, believe me, the next move will be Taiwan.”
If Stephanopoulos had a shred of dignity, he would have asked for some follow-up from the former governor. Because to some, Christie’s rhetoric sounds an awful lot like he thinks World War III should be on his list of campaign promises.
Seriously, how hard would it have been to even ask the following:
- So how does this proxy war end? Is it endless?
- You claim that China is working with Iran to provide lethal weapons. What evidence do you have of that?
- Should the U.S. engage in war with China over Taiwan? (Though, to be fair, it’s pretty clear what Christie’s answer to this one would be.)
- If the Ukrainians are only willing to fight with our support, doesn’t that mean they’re not actually willing to “fight this fight for themselves”?
Instead, the “This Week” host completely ignored Christie’s wartime prognostications and commented about … Carlson’s popularity?
Ah, so the segment wasn’t really about Christie’s thoughts on the Ukraine-Russia war, it was about his thoughts on the former Fox News host.
Speaking of Carlson, he caught wind of Christie’s remarks and issued a simple and humble challenge: Let’s chat.
“Sounds like this could use a longer conversation,” Carlson said Sunday on Twitter. “We just asked @GovChristie to sit down and explain his views on Ukraine. He refused.
“You hate to think that Chris Christie is a blustery coward who plays the tough guy with sycophants at ABC but won’t answer real questions, but who knows? We hope he reconsiders.”
Sounds like this could use a longer conversation. We just asked @GovChristie to sit down and explain his views on Ukraine. He refused. You hate to think that Chris Christie is a blustery coward who plays the tough guy with sycophants at ABC but won’t answer real questions, but… pic.twitter.com/6khc5xi3Co
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) July 16, 2023
As of noon Monday ET, every tweet that Christie had posted since being challenged by Carlson was about Donald Trump.
Time will tell if the bully will continue to avoid the person who stood up to him.
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