Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said that while many Republicans praise President Donald Trump in public, some of those same figures criticize him in private, citing Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham, RS.C., as one example.
During an appearance on “Overtime,” the online segment of “Real Time with Bill Maher,” Friday, Christie was asked by former Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland what “Republicans say to each other when we’re not hearing about what’s happening in America right now.”
“Look, a lot of my fellow party members, especially, come up to me because I say all these things out loud, and they — in the green room at ABC, they say, ‘You’re so brave. That’s great. I totally agree with you. [Trump’s] nuts.’ And then they come out on camera to be interviewed, and they go, ‘The greatest president since Abraham Lincoln,'” he replied. “And then they come back to the green room, and they say, ‘You know, I want to do that, but like I don’t really mean it.’ That’s what they say.”
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Christie accused Graham of publicly praising Trump while privately criticizing him.
(Getty Images)
After Christie’s claim, host Bill Maher asked the former governor which specific Republicans are involved in this behavior.
“Bill, ‘Overtime’s’ not long enough to give you all the names, but I’ll give you one. Lindsey Graham,” he told Maher, drawing shocked reactions from both the panel and the audience.
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Fox News Digital reached out to Graham for comment, but did not immediately hear back.
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Chris Christie (left) and Donald Trump (right).
Christie and Trump have had a complicated relationship over the past decade. Although he endorsed Trump after his own presidential campaign ended in 2016, their relationship soured after the president refused to concede the 2020 election to former President Joe Biden, and Christie later openly criticized Trump’s 2024 campaign.
Facing calls from fellow Republicans to drop out of the race for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, Christie released a campaign ad touting the fact that he was “the only one” on his side of the aisle who called out Trump.
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“Some people say I should quit this race. Really? I’m the only one who says Donald Trump is a liar,” Christie said while speaking directly to the camera.
Christie’s campaign he said the commercial was the first place in what he touts as a seven-figure ad buy in New Hampshire, the state that had the first primary contest and the second overall after the Iowa caucuses in the GOP presidential nomination calendar.
Then-Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie speaks at a campaign town hall event Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024, in Windham, NH
Christie charged in the ad that Trump “pits Americans against each other,” adding that the then-former president’s Christmas message to anyone who disagreed with him was “Rot in hell.”
Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
Original article source: Chris Christie tells Bill Maher that Republicans talk very differently about Donald Trump behind closed doors