Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a longtime critic of President Trump, is calling on Republican presidential candidates to lead the party in a “new direction” following Saturday’s assassination attempt.
Christie published a guest essay. The New York Times Trump said Tuesday he hopes the Republican Party will move forward and that former President Donald Trump will “demonstrate his willingness to change.”
“But Trump can demonstrate his willingness to change not only the way we talk to each other, but the way we act. This moment can confirm that our country is greater than any party, but only if we work for it,” Christie wrote.
“At this week’s Republican convention, Trump has an opportunity to rein in some of the GOP’s worst rhetorical impulses. He can steer his party and its leadership in a new direction in the wake of the assassination attempt against him.”
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Christie also criticized Trump’s pick for vice president, Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio, saying he was focusing on those “already loyal to the president” rather than reaching out to the “broader party.”
“Vance’s initial response to the assassination attempt on Trump was to confront the wrong approach of the moment – which is to demonize the other side and shift the blame onto Democrats as if they pulled the trigger,” Christie said.
The former governor praised Trump for what he said in the interview. New York Post Trump said he wasn’t sure if that was possible, but that he wanted to unite the country and was preparing a new speech to deliver on Thursday when he formally accepts the 2024 presidential nomination.
“This is a start,” Christie said.
Christie supported Trump in 2016 and 2020, but over time he became a vocal critic, running against him in the 2024 presidential election and standing out among his Republican primary opponents for his fierce criticism of the former president. But he never made a full-scale endorsement and withdrew in January.
Christie argued that harsher, more divisive language has led to “congressional gridlock, impeachments and endless, pointless congressional hearings” and said it is causing the “ruin” of politics and elections.
“Difference in opinion alone is not enough. In that difference there must be a distrust of the other side, a hatred of Americans with whom we disagree, and a desire to prove that our view of the world is right and theirs is evil,” he wrote.
Republican presidential candidate and former president Donald Trump was hurriedly escorted off the stage during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Christie also criticised those who claim that Trump engineered the assassination attempt himself, including those who say the attempt was a conspiracy theory or an inside job.
“We all bear responsibility” for the current political climate, Christie said, adding that “Trump has fallen victim to a culture that he has clearly exacerbated through his inflammatory and irresponsible words and actions.”
Christie said despite differences, the country needs to look forward.
“Our differences have always been our strengths as a nation, not our weaknesses,” Christie said, adding that the assassination attempt “puts us at a crossroads.”
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