It's clear from the many stories about Christie that he intends to launch a frontal attack on Trump when they're on the debate stage. Back in March, I noted that Christie had been telegraphing this particular punch for months; two months later, he's still telegraphing it. Trump knows what Christie plans to do, so he'll be ready with well-rehearsed comeback lines that will be infantile but effective. If the crowd's applause at Trump's recent CNN town hall made you uncomfortable, you really don't want to watch Trump does when Christie finally throws that long-promised punch.
But maybe Christie doesn't care. Maybe he's perfectly happy to get pounded by Trump.
Christie likes being on television. In 2018, after his second gubernatorial term ended in disgrace, he joined ABC as a commentator. Reasonable people might have been appalled by that, but to the insiders, he had the credibility to talk about national politics precisely because he'd been a Trump primary opponent turned lickspittle backer, after which Trump denied him the running-mate slot, kicked him out as transition chief, and denied him the job of attorney general. Being repeatedly humiliated by Trump wasn't a mark of shame for Christie; it was a résumé line.
So while Christie may hope he can surprise everyone and hit Trump with a knockout punch, he might be perfectly happy getting curb-stomped instead. To Washington insiders, a beatdown will make Christie appear newly relevant if Trump is the nominee again, and also, obviously, if Trump wins the general election. Here to talk about the president is the man he beat to a bloody pulp in the primary debates.
Chris Sununu also likes being admired by Washington insiders, as Politico's Michael Schaffer noted a couple of mnonths ago:
The Republican primary season hasn’t even started, and already one contest appears to have a runaway winner: The Permanent-Washington Primary, where New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu is absolutely crushing it....Will he run speculation is the reason Sununu keeps getting these gigs. Then, after he drops out of the race, the mainstream media will welcome him back as someone who bravely got in the ring with Trump and can talk authoritatively about him. That's what Sununu seems to want more than anything, so it might be in his best interest to fail. Call it upward failure.
Showing up on schmoozy, talky media platforms? Check: Sununu just hit network Sunday talk shows an impressive three weeks in a row last month. If you don’t count the shows on conservative networks, that’s three more times than fellow Republican not-quite-candidates Ron DeSantis, Mike Pompeo and Tim Scott managed in the entire previous year. For those who like to witness their high-minded gabbing in the flesh, the Atlantic announced yesterday that Sununu will appear ... at a “Future of Democracy” session the venerable publication is organizing at this month’s South by Southwest festival.
... Book the New Hampshire governor on a Beltway interview show or make him the subject of a lengthy profile in an elite publication and you’ll hear him deride Trumpism as an electoral “loser” or denounce the Republican “echo chamber.”
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