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It took about 15 minutes before former New Jersey governor Chris Christie was able to speak during the fourth Republican presidential primary debate Wednesday — but once he did, he held nothing back.
Christie called out the other three candidates onstage for being too hesitant to criticize former president Donald Trump. He slammed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for avoiding answering the moderators’ questions directly. And he declared early on that tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy would in fact win a nationwide election — if it was one for the biggest jerk in the country.
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“This is the fourth debate, the fourth debate that you would be voted in the first 20 minutes as the most obnoxious blowhard in America,” Christie cried out after Ramaswamy had once again interrupted his rivals with insults.
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Most of Ramaswamy’s insults had been hurled at former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, who captured momentum in recent weeks and threatened to overtake DeSantis as the leading Republican alternative candidate to Trump. Ramaswamy belittled her time in the Trump administration as a “cup-of-coffee stint at the U.N.” and mocked her inability to name three provinces in eastern Ukraine where he claimed she wanted to send U.S. troops.
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“Foreign policy experience is not the same as foreign policy wisdom,” Ramaswamy said. “It takes an outsider to see this through. Look at the blank expression. She doesn’t know the names of the provinces.”
Shortly afterward, Christie came to Haley’s defense.
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“Look, if you want to disagree on issues, that’s fine,” Christie said. “And Nikki and I disagree on some issues, but I’ll tell you this: I’ve known her for 12 years, which is longer than [Ramaswamy] even started to vote in the Republican primary. And while we disagree about some issues … we don’t disagree on this. This is a smart, accomplished woman.”
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Christie, a former Trump ally who became one of the former president’s most vocal critics, has made no secret of his purpose in the race: to challenge Trump directly, in the hopes of preventing him from holding office again. As he had in previous debates, Christie also took aim at Trump’s absence Wednesday, referring to him as “the fifth guy who doesn’t have the guts to show up and stand here.” He also suggested the other three candidates onstage didn’t want to disagree with Trump because they knew it was politically inconvenient.
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“Maybe it’s because they have future aspirations. Maybe those future aspirations are now or maybe they’re four years from now,” Christie said. “But the fact of the matter is, the truth needs to be told. … [Trump] is unfit. This is a guy who just said this past week that he wants to use the Department of Justice to go after his enemies when he gets in there. And the fact of that matter is, he is unfit to be president.”
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It also wasn’t the first time Ramaswamy, a political newcomer who launched a long-shot bid for the GOP nomination, has been attacked on a debate stage. At the third Republican presidential primary debate last month, Haley called Ramaswamy “scum” after he mentioned that her daughter was still using TikTok, the social media app that Haley has said should be banned for its security risks.
“You might want to take care of your family first,” Ramaswamy told Haley then.
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“Leave my daughter out of your voice,” Haley shot back.
On Wednesday, Christie also seemed to have plenty of sharp words for Ramaswamy. He questioned the seriousness of Ramaswamy’s proposed “peace deal” in Ukraine, saying it would simply have Ukraine cede land that Russia has already stolen. Christie swiftly rejected Ramaswamy’s suggestion that citizens in Taiwan be armed with guns to ward off an invasion by China: “You know, I don’t think we have constitutional authority in Taiwan to give them a Second Amendment,” he said dryly.
“All he knows how to do is insult good people who have committed their lives to public service and not say anything that moves the ball downfield for the United States,” Christie said.
In an interview with CNN after the debate, Christie acknowledged that he had simply gotten fed up with Ramaswamy.
“I had enough tonight of listening to his garbage,” he told the network.
2024 presidential candidates Catch up on the winners and losers and takeaways from the fourth Republican primary debate. Compare where the 2024 presidential candidates stand on key issues like abortion, climate and the economy.
Republicans: Top contenders for the GOP 2024 nomination include former president Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former Trump U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley. Here is The Post’s ranking of the top 10 Republican presidential candidates for 2024.
Democrats: President Biden is running for reelection in 2024. Here is The Post’s ranking of the top 10 Democratic presidential candidates for 2024.
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