OUCH! Chris Christie Hits Trump Right In His Sorest Of All Sore Spots

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie took a shot at ex-pal Donald Trump by hitting at one of his best-known sore spots: crowd size.

You saw the scenes at CPAC, Christie said on ABCs This Week on Sunday, referring to the right-wing convention outside Washington where the former president spoke on Saturday. That room was half-full.

Trump is known to obsess over crowd size, with one of the very first lies of his administration being a false claim about his inauguration crowd . Hes often made inflated claims about crowds at his rallies, and insisted that theyre sold out even when empty seats are clearly visible.

As Christie noted, Trumps CPAC speech was moderately attended, with ABC News reporting that the back of the room was almost completely empty .

Christie said Trumps empty-seat issue extends well beyond CPAC, and speculated that the former president isnt holding many campaign rallies because he knows the crowds arent what they used to be.

Trump uses crowd size as an example of his own power and his own authority, and I dont think he has it anymore, Christie said.

You saw the scenes at CPAC. That room was half-fullHes the frontrunner and ahead in the polls. But there are lots of indicators here that hes not what he used to be, @GovChristie says of former Pres. Trumps campaign events. https://t.co/GnEV64SDvo pic.twitter.com/4VFIeCBUpA

This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 5, 2023","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"This Week","author_url":"https://twitter.com/ThisWeekABC","cache_age":86400,"description":"You saw the scenes at CPAC. That room was half-fullHes the frontrunner and ahead in the polls. But there are lots of indicators here that hes not what he used to be, @GovChristie says of former Pres. Trumps campaign events. https://t.co/GnEV64SDvo pic.twitter.com/4VFIeCBUpA This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 5, 2023\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","thumbnail_height":720,"thumbnail_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/amplify_video_thumb/1632427732595363840/img/UaeHLM9yGkBEmyZ_.jpg:large","thumbnail_width":1280,"title":"This Week on Twitter","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/ThisWeekABC/status/1632427791705686018","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"64058c52e4b0e45e2f8f484a","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/entry/chris-christie-trump-crowd-size_n_64058c52e4b0e45e2f8f484a","entryTagsList":"donald-trump,chris-christie,abc,cpac,crowd-size","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":"politics-news","sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"media,us-news","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"https://img.connatix.com/b9bca21e-345a-4935-8314-f74f2055f3da/2_th.jpg?crop=480:270,smart&width=480&height=270&format=jpeg&quality=60&fit=crop","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":10},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":1},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"64058c52e4b0e45e2f8f484a","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/donald-trump","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/donald-trump","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/donald-trump"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/donald-trump"},{"name":"Chris Christie","slug":"chris-christie","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/chris-christie","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/chris-christie","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/chris-christie"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Chris Christie","slug":"chris-christie","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/chris-christie"},{"name":"ABC","slug":"abc","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/abc","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/abc","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/abc"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Media","slug":"media"},"topic":{"title":"ABC","slug":"abc","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/abc"},{"name":"CPAC","slug":"cpac","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/cpac","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/cpac","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/cpac"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"CPAC","slug":"cpac","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/cpac"},{"name":"crowd size","slug":"crowd-size","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/crowd-size","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/crowd-size","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/crowd-size"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/crowd-size"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}">

You saw the scenes at CPAC. That room was half-fullHes the frontrunner and ahead in the polls. But there are lots of indicators here that hes not what he used to be, @GovChristie says of former Pres. Trumps campaign events. https://t.co/GnEV64SDvo pic.twitter.com/4VFIeCBUpA
This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 5, 2023

Your Support Has Never Been More Critical

Other news outlets have retreated behind paywalls. At HuffPost, we believe journalism should be free for everyone.

Would you help us provide essential information to our readers during this critical time? We can't do it without you.

Can't afford to contribute? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.

You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest we could use your help again . We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can't do it without you.

Whether you give once or many more times, we appreciate your contribution to keeping our journalism free for all.

Whether you give just one more time or sign up again to contribute regularly, we appreciate you playing a part in keeping our journalism free for all.

Support HuffPost

Christie, once a close ally of Trump, in 2016 became one of the first prominent Republicans to endorse him after ending his own bid for the GOP nomination. Christie was often within Trumps orbit during his presidency, and developed a COVID-19 infection in 2020 while helping Trump prepare for the debates.

He has since become more critical of the former president, and last month predicted that Trump would lose to Joe Biden if hes the 2024 nominee.