Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie took time during the second GOP primary debate on Wednesday to directly address Donald Trump in absentia, eviscerating him with the nickname “Donald Duck” for continuing to pass on debate participation.
The second Republican presidential debate took place at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, on Wednesday night, hosted by Fox Business Network. Former president and current GOP frontrunner Donald Trump was not present, sticking with his trend of snubbing debate programming while running with a comfortable lead against his competitors in the polls.
Christie was speaking on bringing “law and order back to this country,” when he pivoted to addressing Trump via debate camera.
“Donald Trump should be here to answer for that. But he’s not,” Christie, said.
The former New Jersey governor said, “I want to look at that camera right now. Tell you, Donald, I know you’re watching. You can’t help yourself. I know you’re watching… You’re not here tonight, not because of polls and not because of your indictments. You’re not here tonight because you’re afraid of being on the stage and defending your record.”
“You’re ducking these things. Let me tell you what’s going to happen. You keep doing that. No one up here is going to call you Donald Trump anymore. We’re going to call you Donald Duck,” Christie concluded to a mixed response from the live audience.
