To this that is not constructive in our country. Joe biden looked all of us in the eye in 2020 and said, elect me and ill bring us together. And then he ran far left and abandoned most of the country philosophically. So, how could he be the uniter in a second term . A second term all hell do is keep doing what hes doing, which is dividing the country even more than we were divided in 2020. So, the way i would go about it is very direct and very simple, that there is no bad opinion. You want to express your opinion in this country, express it. I want to hear it. And then everybody gets around the table and resolves our issues one at a time. The same way we used to do at Dinner Parties before the last eight or ten years. Wasnt like there werent political differences discussed. Its just people didnt start throwing the cutlery. It was a little more civilized. And it wasnt as if our democracy was at stake. See, in the end, if you make everything a crisis, then it will be. And i heard the president today, joe biden earlier today, talking about how, you know, he was concerned about the democracy if donald trump got elected again. And then i heard donald trump yelling and screaming about how badly hes been treated. These two guys need to stop worrying so much about themselves and start worrying about you. And my approach to being president would be the same way it was when i was governor of new jersey. I got 51 of the latino voters to vote republican. Why . Because i went and campaigned in those places. I let them get to know me, and i listened to them. And thats what you need a president to do, not just go to places where were comfortable. Go to the places where were uncomfortable. And lets admit theres some places as republicans were less comfortable than we are in other places and go there. One quick thing. I went to irvington, Gentlemen Of The Jury new jersey. I told my staff i want to do a town hall in irvington. They said, sir, you realize that those people are not for you in irvington. I said, i want to go there. And i went to a church in irvington. I turned to the pastor, how many people are here . There were over 500 people here. They introduced me on the stage, and they booed me. I said, i already won. There are people in this church than voted for me two years ago. This is a victory. You came to listen. Lets get to listening to each other again. We hear each other. We listen to each other. I went to irvington and i listened, and i went all across new jersey to places who had never voted republican before. People said, he cares, hes listening, he respects my opinion. You know i didnt agree with him many times. And when i didnt, id tell them right to their face i didnt agree with them. Theyre not looking people with different opinions ant always looking looking for you to agree with them. They want to be heard. They want to be taken seriously. And what joe biden and donald trump are doing to this country is dividing us further because its for their advantage. The more divided we are and thats the only choice we have, theyre going to be the nominees and one of them is going to win. We need to go differently, folks. We need to go differently. And i am willing to fight as hard as anybody. You watch me over the last 13 years, my state was hit by sandy, i fought with republicans and democrats to make sure my state was taken care of and rebuilt. And it has been. Im not willing to concede anything on principle. But i am willing to work with anyone of good will who wants to make this country better. And can you say the same thing about donald trump . Can you say the same thing about joe biden . If you cant, you should think twice. Think twice about all the imitators too. One thing youll be able to find out about me over the next year and a half, im not imitating anybody. This is an original, everybody. This is it, okay . And youre going to see who i am. Youre going to get to know me. And if you vote for me, great. And if you dont, at least youll know who youre not voting for and whats in my heart. And thats what im going to show you and give you. Im going to fight for you to do that, have the right to do that. And im going to make sure that w we remember what we all have in common. Were americans, and this is the greatest country the world has ever seen. As we approach 250 years, lets stop the arguing and fighting over the small things and lets Work Together to win the fights on the big things that will make our children smarter, more prosperous, healthier, and safer. We do those things, this country has no rival, hasnt had one before and wont have one for the next hundred years. Governor Chris Christie, thank you very much for joining us. Thank our audience for their questions. The coverage continues with jake tapper and erin burnett. Thank you. Republican president ial candidate Chris Christie, the former governor of new jersey take his 2024 message to voters in our live cnn town hall. The former governor making headlines on multiple fronts, but particularly with his rather blistering rebuke of donald trump on the eve of the former president s arraignment on federal criminal charges. Jake, it was absolutely that. Chris christie describing the expresident as angry, vengeful, someone who doesnt give a damn about the american people. Loser, loser, loser he said. He took on his party or blaming the doj and not in trump himself. The war in ukraine, abortion, and obviously, jake, so much more in that 90 minute town hall. Lets break it down with the group i have here, dana bash starting with you. What strikes you the most . Chris christie got into this race saying that the only way to beat the front runner is not to tiptoe around him but to go through him, to try to hit him head on, saying that from the experience hes had him knowing him for 22 years, the experience of running against him and not faring well in 2016 and then really helping him a lot during his presidency Helping Trump a lot. Helping trump a lot. And then as erin said, tonight you heard the terms that he knew that would get under Donald Trumps skin. Loser, loser, loser, child, Vanity Run Amuck. Those kinds of things were clearly deliberate in order to try to egg donald trump on, not just tear him down, which is his primary goal, but to try to get under his skin. Yeah. John, is there a political appetite for any of this . If he can somehow bend the arch of the Republican Party to where it used to be even then people may say are you conservative enough. Is that a primary message. When a voter brought it up, anderson played the race, he got in the race because at 2 30 in the morning on election night, donald trump said the election was stolen. Nobody knew. Joe biden couldnt claim victory then, nor could donald trump. Nobody could. Donald trump said the election was stolen. He said, i beg you to think about this, to Republican Voters. Six in ten republicans still think the republican is stolen. Said, thats a child. I beg you to think about that. Why do republicans still like trump . So, hes trying to shake them, if you will. That was one thing. The other thing, what is your calling card in this race . What makes you different than Everybody Else. I governed in a blue state. He talked about getting in a room and compromising, lets get into a room together, common sense solutions. Can you tell a Primary Electorate that wants to shake things up and stir things up . Donald trump and ron desantis. Dont talk about compromise, dont talk about lets split the difference and get a good deal. To get that in todays Republican Party, hes going to have to change a lot of minds about what they think the race is about. And abby phillip, even these are republican primary and caucus voters. Chris christie is a gun guy. Chris christie is antiabortion. He didnt lean into either of those issues at all. If you were either a pro gun or pro life voter, he didnt give you a reason to vote for you. He certainly didnt say anything that would make you think that he wasnt on your side, but he wasnt very aggressive on that. It is an interesting point that on those, lets call them culture war issues, he didnt really lean in that much. But i did think it was notable that he was coming at trump from the right. He said, trump didnt bring down the deficit. Trump didnt bring an Immigration Bill to the floor. I think he understands that you do have to go through trump, but you cant do it from the left. You cant even really do it from the center. You have to be somewhere to his right. And i did see him trying to make those arguments to Republican Voters that this guy is just not the conservative that you think he is, perhaps. Whether that will work as an argument, i think it has not worked historically in a republican primary because i think theres a lot of personality at stake when it comes to trump. The other thing about christie that you cannot ignore, ive seen christie in New Hampshire in front of voters, he is very natural and comfortable in that setting. And he understands how to navigate these questions and get to the heart of the question. I think you saw someone just like nikki haley in some ways whos very practiced, very rehearsed. This is not their first rodeo. And when you asked the question, who is going to be willing on a debate stage to do that not just in front of voters but to Donald Trumps face, i think you can see christie being able to do that. Jamie, one of the things thats interesting also in terms of the criticisms of president trump, which were numerous and frequent, was he basically called him incompetent on the issue of immigration. Donald trump didnt offer one piece of legislation that passed on immigration period. Now hes blaming joe biden, calling him incompetent i think would bother donald trump more than calling him vain. I dont think calling him vain. Loser. Loser, loser, loser. Loser three times. I think he likes being called vain. Loser, loser, loser came out early and repeatedly. Look, Chris Christie is a very talented communicator. And this is very much, i think, the Chris Christie we knew and saw before he supported donald trump. He has said he has nothing to lose here, and the question, i think, is going to be, to danas point, hes out there to drive donald trump nuts, plain and simple. Will it resonate with Republican Voters . And to your point w, when he talked about policy, being a governor in a blue state, i did this, i accomplished that, will that resonate with Republican Voters . Elie, he said he thought it was possible that the trial of donald trump in florida could be going on as soon as this winter because of the Rocket Docket down there. You can request a speedy trial. Do you agree with that . Its possible but i think its unlikely. We have experience. I think thats awful bli optimistic to think that you get a case with this much political dimension to it, with this much complexity tried five months from now. Really the defendant is the one who controls when this case goes to trial. The defendant is the one with the Constitutional Rights and the need to prepare himself. And i think what we saw tonight is Chris Christie trying to prosecute the case against donald trump. Last week when Chris Christie declared his candidacy and about 24 hours later, the Trump Indictment news dropped, i thought, bad news for Chris Christie. I think its a good break because he sees on this indictment to state the case against donald trump. The literal case, United States versus donald trump on the documents, but also the broader case of, im the only one who sees this thing clearly. You see so many other republicans, lets wait and see. Chris christie just reads this indictment and reacts like many of us do of this is really damning. And i think hes trying to differentiate himself along those lines. One of the things he said i want the team in the control to prepare slot one, if possible. He painted a picture of what a second trump term would look like. And i thought this was potentially residence nat with voters, even with voter who is ag agree with donald trump, who like donald trump. Lets play that sound. Hes so angry now. Hes angry and hes vengeful, and hes said, i will be your retribution. I dont think i dont want him to be my retribution. I dont need him to do that, and i dont think anybody in America Needs it either. He wants to be retribution for himself. I am convinced that if he goes back to the white house, the next four years will be all about him settling scores. Thats not thats not a crazy prediction. No, its not because we know how donald trump works. And just if youll go to truth social or live through the Trump Administration when we had it. The question is how big an audience does he have, especially when its donald trump right now right seven months ron desantis with a solid second. And Everybody Else. So, during this, i was texting around to a few people out in the states, in New Hampshire. Christie has a bit of attraction here but no real base. Trump gets no more than he has now. Trump has 40 now. There are nine other candidates in the race. So, a lot of people think trump will not go up. Trumps challenge is to hold what hes got. He was indicted. Hes going to be arraigned tomorrow. Were going to see pictures at the trial, who knows, second indictment in new york. Trumps about 40 in New Hampshire right now. Texting with somebody in iowa, i wish Chris Christie would get here because he gets trump into a mud fight. Would you support him . Absolutely not. But an antitrump person. The people who dont like trump see christies value as hurting trump. They dont see christie as somebody who can beat him. Nobody votes for seven months. We live in volatile times. Its hard. Is that what people want . He says about half of our base still is in an angry mood itself. The base is angry about their own grievances. You know, i think that youre right that the term Vanity Run Amuck wont necessarily be the most hurtful thing that donald trump heard out of Chris Christies mouth. But his audience is primarily, in addition to him, the republican electorate. And that fit into the larger theme about this is not his opponents fault. Blame him. He said many times, blame him. Hes putting the country through this. And going on later to say to the other candidates in the race, say his name. Say his name, Making A Harry Pot T er reference. And that is a main goal of the christie candidacy. It is to try to prosecute the case, the broader case, against donald trump in a way that he believes only he can do for lots of reasons. And to consolidate the antitrump forces. Im better than that. You want one person to take on trump, im better than that. Erin . Jake, here mauers, you know him well. You helped him prepare for this. One thing i thought he said that i thought was interesting, christie said, ooifs known him 22 years. The only thing he understands is force. Well, look, anyone whos watched donald trump over his entire career can agree with his statement from Chris Christie. And ive been to probably over 100 christie town halls in my life. That was vintage christie. It was the guy who was taking on uncomfortable truths. He was willing to say things that the Republican Base doesnt necessarily agree with him 100 on. But hes doing his own stuff. He got back to talking about his record as home state governor, prosecutor, Prosecuting 130 politicians. And now taking on one more prosecution potentially on a debate stage come august. Listen, the argument he was trying to make when he went on, i think is interesting dana just mentioned the voldemort reference. He said, youre not going to win against somebody if youre not going to say their name, that that isnt a winning strategy. He was trying to walk a line between taking on trump and trying to take on other policy issues. Did he make the case against the rest of the field and how theyre handling trump . Im going to make an early prediction that if that kind of performance continues, Chris Christie will end up on the debate stage. That was one of the most powerful points he made that not just the case against trump but the only way to beat trump is through them. The fact that candidates are dancing around them is not a winning strategy. He came to play when he was talking about donald trump. On the policy issues, he had some really strong moments, i would say. I think that he showed some grace when he was talking about the Second Amendment, though he did not budge on really any sort of changes, rather it would have been red flag laws. That to me says hes talking about New Hampshire where you dont talk about anything other than the Second Amendment. Were talking a form of child care, not just a child in the womb. So, you see the muscles he hasnt flexed in a while from 2016 talking policies. But the most effective part of Chris Christie is taking on donald trump. One thing i thought he was asked by anderson what defines okay. First was fiscal restraint. Second was a strong safety net. He talked about School Choice and more conservative things. But in the Republican Base right now, those are not Strong Social safety net would be just not what you hear about. If you consi