Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) was booed Friday after he criticized former President Donald Trump during a Faith and Freedom Coalition event, saying in response “you can boo all you want.”
“Why am I running for president of the United States? I ran because [Trump’s] leave us alone. He has let us because he’s unwilling — he’s unwilling to take responsibility for any of the mistakes that were made,” said Christie during the Faith & Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority Policy Conference event.
Christie noted that he was the first presidential candidate in 2016 to endorse Trump and served as chairman of his transition team afterward. But as he continued his speech, the crowd shouted and mocked him.
“You can boo all you want,” Christie said in response.
“Our faith teaches us that people must be responsible for what they do. People have to stand up and be held accountable for what they’ve done, and I can’t stand up,” Christie added, amid a mix of boos and some applause.
After her speech, Christie received a standing ovation from some of the attendees who gathered behind the event to greet her and take a photo with her.
But the response underscores the degree to which the event is a largely pro-Trump environment, as well as the difficulty anti-Trump candidates like Christie will have among Republican primary voters who are largely loyal. still with Trump.
Emphasizing this point, North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson (R), who is running for governor of the state, received some of the biggest applause early in the event when he said he would endorse Trump in 2024. Robinson, who is so- endorsed by Trump earlier in the month, has recently remained silent on who he will back in the 2024 GOP presidential primary.
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