MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough said Wednesday that former President Donald Trump is “scared to death” of former Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Scarborough and Daily Beast columnist Matt Lewis were discussing the upcoming GOP presidential debate, with Lewis questioning whether Trump “is afraid of Chris Christie, so afraid of Chris Christie that he doesn’t show up, that he uses excuses such as, ‘I’m not going to sign the pledge, the RNC pledge’ or whether Donald Trump is just an egomaniac who craves attention, who loves attention, and who now feels that he has a bigger chip on his shoulder, has to unburden himself and play the victim.”
“He may not fully appreciate the danger that Chris Christie specifically poses,” Lewis continued, arguing Trump should turn himself into authorities in Georgia and then show up at the debate. (RELATED: ‘Complete Lack Of Respect’: Chris Christie Rips Trump For Potentially Skipping Debates, Touts Poll Numbers)
Trump has not yet committed to participating in the first debate and refused to sign the RNC’s loyalty pledge to back whichever candidate wins the nomination.
“I’m going to take the other side of it. I do think he’s scared of Chris Christie. He saw what Chris Christie did to Marco Rubio when Chris Christie went into a debate with one thing in mind, he knows Chris Christie put Jared Kushner’s father in jail for a very long time. He knows he’s a prosecutor who’s ruthless and knows how to push his case. And he also knows that his secret sauce in 2016 was being the disrupter. Right? Shaking Hillary Clinton up on the debate stage, shaking the Marcos and everybody else up on the debate stage. That gig that’s like eight years old, right? That’s Elvis in ’77 now,” Scarborough said.
“And I think Chris Christie’s got his number and he knows Donald Trump is get the gut instinct. Obviously, his political gut instinct is second to none like he sees it coming. And so I think he’s scared to death of Chris Christie and will not have the guts to go or the nerve to go on stage with Chris Christie anywhere,” he continued.
Christie announced in July he met the RNC donor criteria to make the first debate stage. Aside from the loyalty pledge, the RNC set debate requirements that candidates must meet to qualify for the Milwaukee debate, including a threshold of 40,000 unique donors.