Trump hits back at Chris Christie for ‘Donald Duck’ nickname

Former President Donald Trump dismissed former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s new nickname for him that attacked the former president for his absence from the second GOP presidential primary debate.

Christie called Trump “Donald Duck” on Wednesday night, criticizing him for skipping the event in favor of attending an event in Michigan for the United Auto Workers strike.

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“Donald, I know you’re watching. You can’t help yourself. You’re ducking these things,” Christie said while looking into the camera, “and let me tell you what’s going to happen. You keep doing that, no one here’s going to call you Donald Trump anymore. We’re going to call you Donald Duck.”

Unimpressed with the nickname, Trump fired back at Christie in an interview with Fox News Digital Wednesday night.

“Anybody that would come up with that nickname shouldn’t be running for president,” Trump said.

Trump defended his decision to skip the debate, saying that due to his sizable lead over the field, it was “much more important” for him to deal “with the UAW and the fact that the Biden administration is going to destroy their jobs over the next two years by going all electric vehicle.”

The former president held a rally outside a nonunion auto parts factory as his opponents took the debate stage Wednesday night. Former local autoworker Brian Pannebecker, who manages an Auto Workers for Trump social media page, told NBC that a “handful” of United Auto Workers strikers showed up to the rally.

“Hopefully, your leaders at the United Auto Workers will endorse Donald Trump,” Trump said to the cheering crowd of over 300 in attendance.

Post-debate polling showed that Christie came in fourth place among those who participated in terms of who voters thought “won” the debate. He had the fourth-highest speaking time.

Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley had the best performance in the second debate according to the same polls, despite having the fifth-most time to speak on stage.

Trump currently holds a commanding lead in the latest primary polls, with over 54% of Republican support. Haley is in third place with a little over 6% of support, while Christie is in sixth place with just under 3% of support.

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In a head-to-head matchup against President Joe Biden in a general election, polls show that Trump is in a dead heat with the incumbent commander in chief, although a recent poll from ABC News and the Washington Post went 9 points in Trump’s favor. The Washington Post suggested that the poll was likely an “outlier.”

The most recent head-to-head poll between Biden and Christie had Biden winning that matchup by 24 points.