The unbearable lightness of being against Trump

Say what you like about former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, he discovered a political angle on Donald Trump no one tried until now: running for the Republican Party’s nomination for president and not giving a crap what Donald Trump says or does or thinks about it. Moreover, Christie has told the unvarnished, ugly truth about Trump and called him out on his lies and his criminal behaviours more than anyone else by far.

In so doing, Christie has tapped into a growing constituency that is heartily sick of Trump. Christie has given many Republicans a voice because some of them were too afraid to say what he’s saying — until now.

Ron DeSantis and Mike Pence may be willing to take on Trump to a certain extent, but unlike Christie neither has the cojones to call him exactly what they know he is. Both men temper, to one degree or another, the harshness of their assessment of Trump. Christie, on the other hand, pulls no punches. He exposes Trump for routinely doing things without any regard for propriety and saying things without any regard for the truth. “This race in 2024 is all about Donald Trump,” Christie said. “It’s not about the American people. He doesn’t give a damn about the American people.”

The ex-New Jerseygovernor has also got another advantage. You might even call it his secret weapon. Trump almost killed him, and he can talk about that whenever he likes.

The story goes like this. Back when Christie worked for him, Donald Trump contracted Covid-19 but he kept it to himself. He ignored social distancing because he’s a selfish jerk who doesn’t care about anyone else. After learning of his Covid diagnosis Trump proceeded to engage several people, including Christie, in hours-long debate preparation sessions over a period of four days without mentioning the test results to any of them.

All but one person from that group contracted Covid as a result of Trump’s reckless endangerment of them. So did Christie. In fact, Christie spent seven days in an ICU and was near death at times. Trump never apologised, never showed the slightest concern that his negligence nearly cost Chris Christie his life.

That’s the kind of behaviour that would be unacceptable in anyone else, of course. If an employee for a company did that he or she would quickly become an ex-employee. If a friend did that he or she would instantly become an ex-friend. Imagine the bitter, outraged invective, the gleeful excoriation from the MAGA crowd, if Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama had done something like that.

But that is the kind of thing Trump gets away with in the MAGA world as a matter of routine. And a lot of Republicans are sick of it because they’re secretly sick of him. They’ve just been too afraid to say so, again — until now. Chris Christie is slowly giving a lot of former Trumpers the courage to admit it’s over for Donald Trump.

Christie’s outspoken, anti-Trump stance is also garnering him lots of on-air interviews in the mainstream media. It’s good for free coverage and Christie knows this and is exploiting it to its fullest. Right now Christie is way behind in the polls, but it’s early days yet and all that can change. Besides, what people are willing to admit to pollsters and what they do in secret in polling booths can sometimes be two different things.

If Christie should gain enough momentum to win the nomination next Summer he most probably will lose to Joe Biden. But by then it’s doubtful that his loss will be much worse than Trump’s would be under the same circumstances. Whatever the case, if trends continue as they are, Christie’s star will be on the rise and Trump’s star will be in decline.

Hopefully that is a message that will be brought home to the American people and MAGA will finally understand that theirs is a failing ideology and Trump is a false god. The ever-dwindling numbers at Trump rallies is one indicator that his decline is well under way. Chris Christie’s growing popularity among Republicans is another. And, as ever, ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters, comrades and friends, stay safe.