Chris Christie criticized Donald Trump amid news that the former president is redirecting donations away from his 2024 presidential campaign toward a political action committee that has been previously utilized to cover his legal expenses, leaving some donors taken aback.
What Happened: Former New Jersey governor and Trump's Republican nomination opponent called the ex-president "the cheapest S.O.B. I've ever met in my life."
"What Donald Trump is good at is spending other people's money," Christie told Politico.
"This is a billionaire who refused to pay his lawyers with his own personal money, and instead, men and women out there who believe in him and wanted [him] to be elected president are donating money to try to forward his candidacy…and he's diverting that money to pay his own legal fees," Christie said.
This came after The New York Times on Sunday reported that Trump began diverting a larger share of his political donations to his Save America PAC in February or March and may have already redirected at least $1.5 million.
"He should take a pledge today to instruct his campaign to no longer spend any public money on his legal fees," Christie said, adding, "He is the richest candidate in this race, yet he is using public money to pay his legal fees. He should be ashamed of himself."
Why It Matters: Amid the escalating competition for the Republican nomination, the duo has launched a barrage of accusations against each other. On Sunday, Christie hit back at Trump in response to the former president’s recent jabs regarding the New Jersey former governor's weight.
Meanwhile, earlier, the Save America PAC had disbursed $3 million to cover legal fees for attorney Chris Kise, who represented Trump. Additionally, the committee covered the legal expenses of significant witnesses involved in the investigation into Trump’s alleged mishandling of classified documents at Mar-A-Lago, a case that recently led to him being charged with 37 federal felonies.
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