MANCHESTER, N.H. – EXCLUSIVE: Republican presidential candidate and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie took some shots at former President Donald Trump on Wednesday after the latter joked about his weight at a New Hampshire campaign stop.
Speaking with Fox News Digital, Christie dismissed Trump as ‘a child,’ and claimed Trump orchestrated his supposed defense of Christie from an audience member calling the former governor a ‘fat pig.’
‘I know from people who were in the room that they guy never said anything. There was no guy in the audience who yelled out the other name that he called me. He made it up like he always does,’ Christie said.
‘Look, I’ll make it real easy for Donald Trump. You’re such a big guy, such a tough guy, so full of it. You want me? I’ll be on the stage in Milwaukee two weeks from tonight. I’ll be there waiting for you. You be there, I’ll be there,’ he said, referencing the first Republican presidential debate scheduled for Aug. 23 and hosted by Fox News.
Before allegedly defending Christie against the audience member, Trump mocked his weight during a campaign stump speech in New Hampshire on Tuesday. ‘Christie — he’s eating right now. He can’t be bothered,’ he said as the crowd laughed.
Trump then appeared to jokingly admonish a member of the audience who, according to the former president, called Christie a ‘fat pig.’
‘Sir, please do not call him a fat pig. That’s very disrespectful. Don’t call him — see, I’m trying to be nice,’ Trump said. ‘Don’t call him a fat pig. You can’t do it. You can’t do that. So now, because you’re not allowed to do that, and, therefore, we’re not going to do it, OK? We want to be very civil, right?’
Brandon Gillespie is an associate editor at Fox News. Follow him on Twitter at @brandon_cg.