Trump says Chris Christie 'is eating right now' and tells audience not to call the former governor a 'fat pig'

• Former President Donald Trump made fun of Chris Christie's weight during a speech in New Hampshire.
• He said the former NJ governor is "eating right now" and "can't be bothered."

Former President Donald Trump made fun of former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's weight at a rally in New Hampshire on Tuesday, suggesting that the personal insults that defined his 2016 campaign could make a reprisal in the coming months.

"Christie, he's eating right now, he can't be bothered," Trump remarked during a lengthy commentary about the state of polling in the 2024 presidential campaign so far.

He then admonished members of the audience not to call Christie a "fat pig" — though it was unclear if anyone had.

"Sir, please do not call him a fat pig," said Trump, pointing towards the audience in Windham. "I'm trying to be nice. Don't call him a fat pig."

"Now, because you're not allowed to do that, and therefore, we're not going to do it," he continued. "We want to be very civil, right?"

Christie later responded on Tuesday via a Tweet, chastising Trump for his resistance to participating in the first GOP presidential debate on August 23.

"If you had the guts you would show up to the debate and say it to my face," he wrote.

One of several candidates battling Trump for the nomination, Christie has the support of just 2.3% of GOP voters nationally, according to a RealClearPolitics average of recent polling. But in New Hampshire, Christie is doing somewhat better, polling at an average of 6.7%.

Trump, according to those polls, remains dominant over the rest of the field.

Christie was once a key ally of Trump, becoming one of the first major GOP figures to endorse his campaign in 2016 and running his presidential transition team until shortly after the 2016 election.

But since the end of Trump's tenure, Christie has become a staunch critic of the former president, basing his 2024 campaign around his criticism of Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election.