Donald Trump slammed Chris Christie on Monday for telling top GOP donors to dump the ex-president for the sake of success in future elections.
Pro-Trump Republicans did not take that message well – or the former New Jersey governor's insistence that they move past 2020 election fraud claims.
'Chris Christie, who just made a speech at the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC) in Las Vegas, was just absolutely massacred by his statements that Republicans have to move on from the past, meaning the 2020 Election Fraud,' Trump sent in a Monday evening statement.
'Everybody remembers that Chris left New Jersey with a less than 9% approval rating—a record low, and they didn't want to hear this from him!' the former president continued.
Christie had a dismal approval rating as he was preparing to leave office in 2018 after a June 2017 event where the then-governor was seen lounging on Island Beach State Park even though it was closed to the public during a government shutdown.
The picture of the governor in shorts and t-shirt on a beach chair went viral.
Subsequently, a June 2017 survey from Quinnipiac University showed Christie's approval at only 17 per cent, the worst rating 'for any governor in any state surveyed' in 20 years, according to the pollster.
Donald Trump lashed out at former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie after he said the party needs to move on from Trump and the claims that the 2020 election was fraud
Trump said his base 'massacred' Christie and brought up that former GOP governor's approval rating was at a record-breaking low 15 per cent in June 2017 – just six months before he left office
At an annual Republican Jewish Coalition dinner in Las Vegas on Saturday, Christie said: 'We better focus on that and take our eyes off the rearview mirror and start looking through the windshield again.'
His disapproval rating went from 77% in December to 81% in the latest survey.
Christie's statement on Saturday to top Jewish Republican donors came off of a slew of GOP wins from Tuesday's election.
He appeared to take the lead of Virginia gubernatorial victor – GOP newcomer Glenn Youngkin – who kept Trump at arms-length during the campaign and especially in the days leading up to the election, which some credit to his win in a state Joe Biden took by 10 points in 2020.
Christie told a room full of top GOP donors that it was time for the party to move past Trump as Youngkin's victory and Democrat losses in his own state provided proof the controversial ex-president's influence on voters is waning.
Speaking at the RJC's annual leadership meeting in Las Vegas on Saturday night, Christie urged elected Republican officials and candidates to stop arguing over the validity of the 2020 election.
He told the crowd that Youngkin's victory represented a 'new era' in the GOP.
Christie's approval took a nosedive in June 2017 after a picture of him lounging on the beach went viral because the Island Beach State Park was closed at the time due to the government shut down
'Glenn Youngkin did not have a backward-looking campaign and neither did Jack Ciattarelli,' Christie told Fox News the day of the event.
'If what we're going to continue to talk about is the 2020 election and grievance politics, I think you got a market test in Virginia and in New Jersey. And that market test was candidates don't think that's going to work. And one of those candidates won, and the other candidate came close in a blue state to winning.'
Also speaking to CNN during the event, Christie said he would wait until after the 2022 midterm election cycle to decide if he'll mount another bid for the White House in 2024.
During his Las Vegas speech the former governor and presidential candidate warned that re-litigating the last election takes attention away from the damage Democrats are doing to the country.
'We can no longer talk about the past and the past elections - no matter where you stand on that issue, no matter where you stand, it is over,' Christie said. 'Every minute that we spend talking about 2020 - while we're wasting time doing that, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer are laying ruin to this country.
'We better focus on that and take our eyes off the rearview mirror and start looking through the windshield again.'
He took a swipe at Trump more directly, urging Republicans to trade their support for his baseless fraud theories for a message to voters that 'doesn't hurt their ears.'
