Appearing on CNN Wednesday night, former New Jersey Governor — and definitely former friend of Donald Trump — laid into his former boss and family, declaring Trump himself to be merely a “self-professed billionaire” who Christie called “the cheapest person I’ve ever met.”
Christie was on “CNN Primetime” to talk to the network’s anchor Kaitlan Collins about the recent reveal that Trump has been diverting donations from his supporters to a PAC that he’s using to fund his legal defense in the federal classified documents case for which he faces 37 charges.
“Just remember something,” Christie told Collins, “he’s a billionaire. Self-professed billionaire. Why can’t he use his own money to pay his personal legal fees and not the public’s money?”
“It’s disgraceful, and it’s a continued grift. And look, the Trump family have been involved in grifting for quite some time. He was doing this with the people who got paid out of his PAC before, whether it was Kimberly Guilfoyle, other members of the family,” Christie continued. “Jared Kushner, six months after he leaves the White House get $2 billion from the Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund, when Donald Trump had put him in a position to be in the Middle East.”
“What was Jared Kushner doing in the Middle East? We had Rex Tillerson and Mike Pompeo, secretaries of state. We didn’t need Jared Kushner. He was put there to make those relationships and he cashed in on the relationships when he left the office,” Christie said. “So what Donald Trump is doing now is just a continuation of what he’s permitted his family over the entire course of his time as president.”
“Why do you think he’s not using his own money to pay for his legal fees,” Collins asked.
“‘Cause he’s the cheapest person I’ve ever met in my life. That’s why,” Christie replied. “And what he’s very good at, Kaitlan, is spending other people’s money. And if you look at his history in New Jersey…”
“Do you think he’s misleading his voters, his supporters?” Collins said.
“I think those supporters, you know, write a check to Trump for President, they think they’re paying for campaign expenses, not for personal legal expenses. What happened to him, let’s say with the documents case had nothing to do with the campaign, at all. It’s a personal fault of his, mistakes he made that he’s now being held to account for and that he has to pay lawyers to defend him,” Christie said.
Watch the clip below, courtesy of ACYN on Twitter.
