Former President Donald Trump denied calling former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie “a fat pig” late Tuesday night after the supposed comment drew uproar from opponents online.
“Don’t call him a fat pig,” Trump said Tuesday during a speech in Windham, New Hampshire. “You can’t do that.”
The remark came shortly after Trump seemingly took a crack at Christie’s weight, saying, “Christie, he’s eating right now, he can’t be bothered.”
The former friends are both vying for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination and have feuded since Christie became a vocal critic of Trump.
According to NBC News, after an audience member shouted out the insult, Trump responded: “Sir, please do not call him a fat pig. I’m trying to be nice. Don’t call him a fat pig. You can’t do that.”
Christie hit back on Twitter, telling Trump that “if you had the guts you would show up to the debate and say it to my face.”
Christie’s response is a not-so-subtle jab at Trump’s indication that he may skip the first Republican primary debate slated for Aug. 23.
After Christie’s response and some attributing the “fat pig” comment to Trump, the former president posted on Truth Social that he did not say that, but rather defended him.
“I was extremely respectful of Sloppy Chris Christie today in New Hampshire,” Trump wrote. He added that after someone shouted the insult, he responded, “No, No, he is not a fat pig.”
“I’m sure Chris would have been very happy with my defense of him!” Trump added.
While Trump may not have made the “fat pig” remark himself, it’s not the first he has criticized the ex-governor’s weight.
In a June interview with Fox News, Christie responded to Trump’s weight-based criticism.
“Oh, like he’s some Adonis?” Christie said.
He later elaborated that “there are tens of millions of Americans, out in your audience watching right now, who, like me, have struggled with their weight,” and asked, “What’s that got to do with my competence for office? I ran the governorship of New Jersey for eight years.”
Recent polling shows Trump with a hearty lead over all other Republican presidential candidates, including Christie, who hasn’t cracked double digits.
A RealClearPolitics average of recent polls shows Trump averaging 54% in the primary, followed by Florida gov. Ron DeSantis at 16%. Christie comes in seventh among candidates, with just 2.3%.
