President Donald Trump on Sunday night fired off a series of messages on social media attacking Senate Democrats, demanding that the Baseball Hall of Fame admit retired pitcher Roger Clemens, and mocking ABC reporter Jonathan Karl’s hair.
And, in one of his wilder posts, Trump delivered a not-so-veiled threat to onetime pal Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor who had criticized him earlier in the day.
“Can anyone believe anything that Sloppy Chris says?” Trump wrote.
During an ABC interview, Christie accused Trump of using the Justice Department as “his personal legal representation” to carry out retribution against political opponents and critics such as former national security adviser John Bolton.
Trump seemed to make Christie’s case for him as he hinted that the former governor could soon find himself on the wrong end of a new investigation into the “Bridgegate” scandal from his time as governor.
“Do you remember the way he lied about the dangerous and deadly closure of the George Washington Bridge in order to stay out of prison,” Trump wrote. “For the sake of JUSTICE, perhaps we should start looking at that very serious situation again? NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW!”
Trump was referring to a 2013 scandal in which members of Christie’s administration closed the lanes in Fort Lee leading to the George Washington Bridge to create a traffic jam, reportedly as revenge against a mayor who did not back Christie’s reelection bid.
When Christie held a press conference denying that his office had been involved, one of his own aides texted to another that he “just flat out lied,” according to court documents released later.
Christie was a Trump rival during the 2016 campaign, but dropped out early and became one of the first major GOP figures to endorse him.
He stayed within Trump’s orbit throughout the campaign and during his first term in office, and was a White House regular.
Christie helped Trump prepare for the presidential debates in both 2016 and 2020. He spent a week in an intensive care unit with COVID-19 that he developed while helping Trump in 2020, later saying it was “inexcusable” that he wasn’t told that Trump had tested positive for the infection and “undeniable” that he got the infection from him.
Trump called him while in the hospital, Christie said, but not entirely to check on his prognosis.
“Are you going to say you got it from me?” Trump asked him, according to Christie’s 2021 book.
Christie eventually became a Trump critic.
Trump’s full message is below:
