Republican presidential candidates Chris Christie and Asa Hutchinson – both vocal critics of Donald Trump – fielded a chorus of boos at a Florida GOP summit on Saturday, a display of GOP voters’ strong loyalty to the former president, the front-runner for the party’s 2024 nomination.
Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, admonished the crowd at the Florida Freedom Summit outside Orlando for loudly booing him, telling them their “anger against the truth is reprehensible.”
“The problem is you fear the truth. The problem is you want to shout down any voice that says anything different than what you want to hear,” he said, later adding, “What a shock, you’re for Trump. I’m going to fall over dead.”
Christie has been one of the most vocal critics of Trump, who is slated to speak later in the day at the summit. Christie has been booed several times at events where 2024 GOP candidates have spoken.
Hutchinson, the former governor of Arkansas, was also loudly booed as he told the crowd there’s a “significant likelihood” that Trump “will be found guilty by a jury on a felony offense next year.”
“That may or may not happen before you vote in March. And it might not make any difference to you. But it will make a difference for our chances to attract independent voters in November,” he said.
The former president faces 91 criminal charges across four indictments. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
“We cannot win as a country without integrity in the White House. And while some will ignore the destructive behavior of the former president, I assure you, we ignore it at our own peril,” Hutchinson added.
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