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Possible Trump rival Chris Christie says Republican hopefuls are failing the “leadership test.”
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This is because they treat Trump as “Voldemort,” Christie said, and don’t name him as they call him.
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The fictional villain is known as “You-Know-Who” and “He Who Must Not Be Named”, for fear of evoking his name.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says Republicans who want to run against former President Donald Trump in 2024 should start naming him while they’re naming him.
“There are a number of people who are considering running for president who still treat him like Voldemort, like ‘He Who Shall Not Be Named,'” Christie told the washington examiner Thursday. He was referring to the main antagonist of the “Harry Potter” novels, whose name many characters were afraid to even mention.
“They say: ‘Leaders who do this or that.’ But they won’t say the name. I think that doesn’t pass the test of leadership,” Christie said.
“Are you going to compete against him? Say his name. Do you think he did something wrong? Say his name,” Christie said.
This week he too urged GOP to ‘stop being afraid’ of Trumpamid growing speculation that he will run against Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Christie is right. Some of Trump’s biggest rivals, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, have largely refrained from mentioning the former president. On the one hand, DeSantis avoided berating Trump when asked last week if a civil war was brewing between him and Trump. Instead, DeSantis dodged the question and told people to “chill out” about their rivalry instead.
The same cannot be said of Trump when it comes to DeSantis. Trump this month, in keeping with his penchant for nicknames for political rivals, nicknamed DeSantis “Ron DeSanctimonious”. He too attacked the governor of Floridacalling him “average” and accusing him of disloyalty.
Meanwhile, Christie told the Washington Examiner that he will decide in five or six months whether to run for president.
On Christie’s part, he has called out Trump on many occasions. A former Trump ally turned critic, Christie accused Trump of concealing a positive coronavirus test result and transmitting the virus to him.
On the subject of electoral fraud, Christie in November 2021 urged the former president to “move on” from the 2020 election and “tell the truth”.
In Decemberthe former governor also called the actions of the Trump team that led to the January 6 Capitol riot a “Keystone Cops operation” that was “driven from the top” and “executed by C-team players.”
A representative for Trump’s post-presidential press office did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.
Read the original article at Business Insider