Trump called Chris Christie when they were both hospitalized with COVID-19 to make sure he wouldn't be blamed for the infection, book says

• Chris Christie's book says Trump called when they were both in the hospital with COVID-19, per the NYT.
• Christie said Trump wanted to ensure he wouldn't be blamed for Christie's infection.

When Chris Christie was hospitalized with COVID-19 last October, then-President Donald Trump called to make sure he wouldn't be blamed for the infection, according to Christie's new book, which was cited by The New York Times.

Trump's phone call to the former New Jersey governor came during a coronavirus outbreak at the White House in 2020, the Independent reported, which resulted in at least 48 staffers testing positive for the virus and Trump himself being hospitalized.

Trump made the call while he was hospitalized at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland, the excerpt cited in The Times said.

Trump was admitted to Walter Reed on October 2, and Christie checked himself into the Morristown Medical Center in New Jersey the day later.

The president was concerned by the optics of Christie's hospitalization, the book excerpt said.

"Are you going to say you got it from me?" Trump asked him, according to the excerpt.

The revelation comes from Christie's book, "Republican Rescue: Saving the Party from Truth Deniers, Conspiracy Theorists, and the Dangerous Policies of Joe Biden," which is set to be released on Wednesday.

A representative for Trump did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

In the book, Christie also detailed how unwell he became after being hospitalized. He wrote that his priest arrived in the hospital and prayed over him, rubbing oils on his forehead and signing the cross, The Times reported.

Christie was once a loyal ally of Trump, helping him with debate preparations for the 2020 election, but the pair have publicly clashed in recent months.

Last week, Christie told CNN that the former president needed to "tell the truth" about his 2020 election loss and move on. Trump responded by releasing a statement that said that "everyone remembers that Chris left New Jersey with a less than 9% approval rating."

In an interview with Axios published last week, Christie also taunted Trump, saying: "When I ran for reelection in 2013, I got 60% of the vote. When he ran for reelection, he lost to Joe Biden."