Chris Christie bashes Trump for quoting Putin on democracy: ‘Worse by the day’

Former Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie slammed former President Donald Trump for quoting Russian President Vladimir Putin to go after President Joe Biden.

Trump, at a rally on Saturday, quoted Putin as saying that Biden is a “threat to democracy” and invoked how the Russian president claimed that Biden’s “persecution of his political rival” shows the “rottenness of the American political system.” Christie criticized Trump on Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union.

TRUMP INFLAMES WORRIES WITH CALLS FOR REVENGE AND ‘RETRIBUTION,’ BUT THERE ARE LIMITS

“He gets worse and worse by the day, Jake. And voters better start paying attention to exactly what he’s saying. He has always been approving of Putin since the beginning of his presidency. That is something that he and I had regular arguments about going back to 2017,” Christie said before questioning Trump’s citing of Putin as an “expert on democracy.”

He continued, “This is a guy who doesn’t even know what democracy is and, quite frankly, has spent most of his life trying to undercut democracy all over the world. And Donald Trump citing him as his expert witness that he’s being persecuted and is innocent. Look, this is a guy who just believes woe is me, and I can’t believe I got caught.”

Christie then discussed how the former president would have several of his own former allies testifying against him in the various legal cases against him, saying that Trump has become “crazier” as the “walls are closing in” on him.

“Donald Trump realized the walls are closing in, and he’s becoming crazier. And now he’s citing Vladimir Putin as a character witness, a guy who is a murderous thug around the world. It is time to send Donald Trump back to Mar-a-Lago permanently,” Christie said.

Christie, who is running for president, also bashed Trump’s rhetoric of saying that immigrants are “poisoning the blood” of the country, calling it “disgusting.” The GOP presidential candidate specifically went after politicians who are “enabling” Trump’s behavior, including fellow Republican presidential candidate and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.

“The other problem with this is the Republicans that are saying this is okay; almost 100 members of Congress have endorsed him. Nikki Haley this week said he’s fit to be president. You’re telling me that someone who said that immigrants are poisoning the blood of this country, someone who says Vladimir Putin is a character witness, is fit to be president of the United States?” Christie said. “Nikki Haley should be ashamed of herself, and she’s part of the problem because she’s enabling him. She’s enabling him by saying to people, it is okay.”

He added, “Let me be really clear, I’m in this race to let people know, it is not okay. It is not okay for an American president to be saying these things, and she should be ashamed of herself and the members of Congress who nod their head like a dog in the back of a car, just nodding away when he said all of these things because all their about is their own political future and their primary in their own district. This is why American leadership is falling down and why I’m in the race to stay.”

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

Christie has put the focus of his presidential campaign in New Hampshire but is in third place behind Trump and Haley in the GOP primary in the Granite State, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average.

In the polling average, Trump has 44.3%, Haley has 18.7%, Christie has 13%, and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has 9%.