I’ve seen this mentioned a number of time browsing news today but since no one has brought it up here on PZ I figure why not me being the one to do so? Chris Christie has long battled his weight. Taken a lot of hits for it including on the campaign trail. Politics is after all a full contact sport, at least rhetorically and what few limits there have been on getting personal have pretty much disappeared. Some of the mocking of Christie’s weight has been epic, especially after having shut down NJ public beaches to make a budge point while Gov. he took his family and pals on beach outing. His security detail could keep people on the ground away but not photographers in planes and plenty of folks were reaching for Brain Bleach after seeing Christie that day.
I don’t know how to link in a twitter post but if you click on this article you’ll find a wonderful clip of Christie flipping the script on Trump as well as some other good commentary. Check out a partial transcript:
Question: Trump took aim at your weight.
What’s your reaction to that? Christie: Oh like he’s some Adonis? He should take a look in the mirror every once in a while, maybe he would drop the weight thing off of his list of criticisms
I sure wish I owned the distributorship for whatever brand of ketchup Trump uses to drown his burnt steaks with. He probably threw a truck’s worth at the walls when he saw this!
That’s the beauty of the Christie candidacy. With all those politicians he faced on the debate stage in 2016 he got to be the bully that no one would punch in the mouth. But Trump isn’t just notoriously thin skinned. At heart he’s a coward. Like the playground bully who projects a demeanor tough enough to scare everyone deep down he’s terrified of someone standing up to him and not just throwing but landing a punch right in HIS face. That’s why Trump actually wanted Christie on the ticket with him in 2016. Between the two of them, and with Christie being out there to “punch” anyone who tried to slip one in on Team Trump he’d have had his “Luca Brasi.”
If Joe Biden was the one Democrat Trump feared running against in the general election in 2020, Chris Christie is hands down the one person he feared (having sided with Jared and yanking the rug out from under Christie more than once) might get into the 2024 GOP race. If only for some payback.
When it comes to bullying political opponents, actually standing in the ring mano-a-mano Trump is way the hell overmatched and he knows it. For a while there it looked like Christie might hold back a little. But this past week he’s been showing signs of being just what I hoped he’d be. I’m even starting to wonder if sometimes Christie might hold back some just to sucker Trump on to a debate stage. Play the ole “Rope-A-Dope” and if that’s the case, Christie will be a political Ali while Trump will be not George Foreman, but some “Meal Team Six” type goober from one of his MAGA rallies that’s fueled with “liquid courage” and it will be entertaining as hell to watch.
“Oh, like he’s some Adonis?”
You can hate him for his political views all you want but remember, Christie was an accomplished federal prosecutor and proved quite capable in court. He’s smarter than Trump, can actually think (and quickly) on his feet, is tougher than Trump, meaner than Trump and he knows it. Trump knows it too even if he’ll never admit it. Best of all, Christie has known Trump a long time and he knows Trump knows it.
I’ll bet Christie falls asleep at night with a smile on his face thinking of fun dreams of what he’s going to do to Trump live and on TV. Where Trump can only stand there and try not to cry, or go running from the stage screaming “No fair! He’s being mean and I’M the only one who gets to be mean!” Either way and MAGA goober watching will finally have the scales fall from their eyes.
Oh, one last thought. What do you think is going through the minds of Trump fluffers on Capitol Hill? Some of them are as cult-crazy as the average MAGA goober but some of them despite all their bombast chose to tie their fortunes to Trump. Christie eviscerating Trump will do a number on them too!
They’ve been having “fun fun fun” but Christie is fixing to take their “Trump T-Bird” away!
I’ve thought all along that Christie will verbally savage trump in a debate. I would actually watch that situation.
For those so inclined (I’m older and more sensible, at least in that decades ago I decided to severely limit my alcohol intake so as never again to wake up with a hangover) it will make a helluva drinking game. Christie zings Trump, or Trump flubs a one-liner because he’s too flustered and everyone chugs a beer or takes a double or even triple shot of the hard stuff! But I get what you’re saying. Except I not only would watch, I eagerly waiting to see it!
Pity Christie didn’t exercise this verbal savagery in 2016. He had to know just how unsuitable the mango moron was for the w.h.
The only issue I have is that I’m not really sure most of Trump’s MAGAt followers will know who (or what) “Adonis” is. I mean, I know, of course but, for the jab to have REALLY been effective, maybe a more well-known name might have worked.
Maybe “Oh, like he’s Daniel Craig?”
“Oh, like he’s Brad Pitt?”
“Oh, like he’s Jason Momoa?”
“Oh, like he’s Chris Hemsworth?”
“Oh, like he’s Bradley Cooper?”
I mean, the list is positively endless. The point, of course, is to make sure Trump’s rubes actually know who the good-looking comparison is. I’m sure most of them think that “Adonis” is just Christie trying to come up with a nickname (A-DON-IS) that almost sounds like a putdown (just think how many might be thinking “Adonis” is somehow related to “Madonna”).
You make a good point – the typical MAGA goober won’t have a clue about Adonis. Maybe some championship wrestling superstar that’s also done action movies like that John Cena guy? I don’t know who’s who in that world but I think Cena’s well known. Even see him in a TV commercial for a big brand trash bag. I don’t know his political leanings but someone like that who’s known to be a Trump fluffer would be even better.
Yes, and they aren’t even intellectually curious enough to look it up.
If nothing else, Christie is going to make the Republican nomination interesting, exposing the vapidity not only of trump, but the other candidates who fear him. Ironically, in a party that is impoverishing for talent, he’s got the right stuff for president: intelligence, political savvy, and outstanding rhetorical skills. But he’s also dragging some big liabilities, including his former support for the orange abomination, his tainted history as governor, and his weight. Of all the candidates he has the best chance of gaining momentum, picking up support and funding as other candidates flame-out and leave the race. Which could just be the tonic he needs to do something about his personal image. There are surprises ahead, and Christie is not incapable of surprising us and himself.