Chris Christie says Trump's classified documents case is like 'Abbott and Costello meets the Corleones,' and shows the former president's 'abject stupidity'

• Chris Christie said Trump "certainly committed crimes" related to his classified documents indictment.
• He compared the case to "maybe 'Abbott and Costello' meets the 'Corleones.'

GOP presidential candidate and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said former President Donald Trump "certainly committed crimes" related to his federal classified documents case, and he compared the government's allegations against Trump to the fictional family of mobsters in "The Godfather" franchise and slapstick comedians Abbott and Costello.

In June, a federal grand jury indicted Trump, accusing him of mishandling classified documents after he left the White House. The grand jury named Trump's personal aide, Waltine Nauta, as a co-defendant in the case.

A superseding indictment was later filed at the end of July, adding Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira as a co-defendant plus additional charges against Trump. The superseding indictment alleged that De Oliveira, Nauta, and Trump conspired to delete surveillance footage at the resort and obstruct the federal investigation.

During a Tuesday appearance on MSNBC's "Morning Joe," Christie shared his thoughts on the matter.

"I believe the keeping of those documents was a crime and the obstruction was clearly a crime," Christie said. "And now the superseding indictment where he was ordering folks allegedly to delete the surveillance cameras, you know, it reminded me of like what maybe 'Abbott and Costello' meets the 'Corleones' would've looked like."

He continued, saying the allegations against Trump showcase the combination of traits he believes the 45th president brings to the table in 2024, referring to Trump's "combination of criminality and abject stupidity both in terms of his comments and in terms of his actions."

Christie supported Trump's campaigns in 2016 and 2020, and advised the latter campaign.

He's currently drawing in an average of 2.1 percent support, according to an average of major polls by FiveThirtyEight. Whe he has a ways to go to catch up to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Trump, he's successfully qualified for the first GOP presidential debate later in August.