Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump unleashed a barrage of verbal attacks on rival Chris Christie during a campaign event Monday night in Nashua, New Hampshire.
Trump's ire against the New Jersey governor came as he also unloaded on the
New Hampshire Union Leader and its publisher Joe McQuaid, who endorsed Christie and ran a scathing front-age editorial against Trump on Monday.
"It's ridiculous to back Chris," Trump said, pointing out New Jersey's "through the roof" tax rates, nine credit downgrades and the George Washington Bridge closure scandal.
Christie insists he knew nothing of a plan by his aides to shut down several lanes the bridge for several days in September 2013 in retaliation against the mayor of Fort Lee, New Jersey, for not backing Christie's gubernatorial re-election bid.
"It's impossible to believe he didn’t know about it," Trump told the crowd. "Everybody knows he knew about it."
Christie "can't win because of his past," Trump said. "I don’t believe you’ve heard the last of the George Washington Bridge, because there’s no way he didn’t know about the closure of the George Washington Bridge, and all of his people are now going on trial in the very near future. And they’re going on criminal trial. There's no way he didn't know about it."
"Does anybody believe that? Honestly?" Trump said. "Is there a 1 percent chance?"
Trump also took shots at Christie for what many Republicans have his embrace of President Barack Obama in October 2012 during a tour of the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy in the Garden State.
"He was so warm, and so happy to have Barack Obama in the state of New Jersey that I personally think it could have cost [Republican Mitt] Romney the election," Trump said. "I actually thought that Christie was going to vote for Obama based on that little episode."
"I don't call it a hug. I call it a hug mentally," Trump added. "It was unbelievable. He was like a little boy: 'Oh, I'm with the president.'"
Trump said he knows New Hampshire residents are "happy" Christie is spending lots of time visiting them during his campaign, but added that Christie should spend more time looking after things in his own backyard.
"You know, the people of New Jersey want to throw him out of office," Trump said.
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