Editor’s Note: SE Cupp is a CNN political commentator. The views expressed in this commentary are her own. Read more opinion at CNN.
Fresh off the news that former President Donald Trump has been indicted on 37 counts, including 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information, and will appear on Tuesday in federal court in Miami for his arraignment, one of the many contenders vying for his old job took the stage in New York City and didn’t hold back.
Chris Christie is a lot of things: twice-elected former governor of New Jersey; former presidential candidate in 2016; former chair of the Republican Governors Association; former Trump supporter and close ally.
But now, most importantly, Christie is once again a presidential contender, and he understands that the road to the nomination runs through – and over – Trump. On Monday night, Christie went boldly where most other Republican candidates have tiptoed: He called the former president out.
“I don’t understand the other candidates who won’t even mention his name,” Christie said at the town hall. “How do you beat someone if you won’t talk about them? How do you beat them if you won’t distinguish yourself from them?”
Christie called Trump angry, vengeful, “completely self-centered, completely self-consumed.” He was pointed when he said Trump “doesn’t give a damn about the American people.”
He also said his former friend and boss is driven purely by vanity and ego run amok, and that if Trump wins in 2024 the following four years would only be about “settling scores.”
He sounded unlike most other Republican candidates in forcefully calling out his handling of classified documents: “This conduct is inexcusable in my opinion for someone who wants to be president of the United States.” (Trump has denied any wrongdoing.)
Christie even waded forcefully into some of the trickiest waters for a Republican, chastising Trump and his supporters for their continued election lies.
“It is a child’s reaction, everybody,” he said of Trump’s declaring himself the victor on Election Night 2020.
Some Republicans have gone so far as to suggest that it should be “disqualifying” for rivals not to declare the 2020 election was stolen. And, according to a CNN poll from earlier this year, a whopping 63% of Republican voters and Republican-leaning independents still believe President Joe Biden did not legitimately win the 2020 election.
But nearly two weeks ago, when Axios broke the news that the former New Jersey governor was seeking the Republican nomination, Christie’s team told the outlet that he would run “a non-traditional campaign that is highly focused on earned media, mixing it up in the news cycle and engaging Trump.”
As a result, many in the media have been presuming his project in this cycle – where he’s not polling very high thus far – is a kamikaze mission. I agreed, believing that Christie wasn’t in it to win it but to stop Trump.
But in his town hall, he did things that traditional candidates do if they actually want to win elections.
He drew contrasts, not only between him and Trump, but between himself and other Republican candidates and himself and Biden. He asked if Biden could physically and mentally handle another Cuban missile crisis – and if you’d trust Trump to.
He drew on his experience as a former federal prosecutor and governor, repeatedly saying, “I’ve done this,” and “I make things happen.”
He talked about issues – remember those? Things like government spending, the war in Ukraine, mass shootings, opioids and abortion. No kooky conspiracy theories. No junk science.
And he talked about conservative values, something the former president often couldn’t identify and had little use for: fiscal restraint, a strong national defense, a strong social safety net, American leadership abroad, school choice.
Much of this fell by the wayside in favor of Trump’s grievance politics, his endless efforts to divide the country and his desperation to expand his own powers.
Finally, Christie stated the obvious, which is that Republicans need to win again and that Trump is a “three-time loser” who “hasn’t won a damn thing since 2016.”
As other candidates run to defend Trump against the “weaponization” of the DOJ, Christie said the reason for their deference is that “they’re afraid of him.”
Indeed, Christie may be the only one who gets it – they’re trying to beat Trump!
Doomed to failure or not, Christie seems to understand the point of all of this: to win the White House, elevate conservative ideas and solve actual problems for Americans. It isn’t to own the left, score cheap points, foment ugly culture wars or suck up to a guy facing criminal indictments.
Whether Christie can win this way remains to be seen. But it at least looks as though he wants to – which is more than I can say for some of his competitors.