Chris Christie: Voters should keep Trump out of White House, not courts

"I think it would cause a lot of anger in this country if people had the choice taken away from them," he said.

By Ben Whedon

Published: December 19, 2023 8:44pm

Former New Jersey GOP Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday suggested that voters ought to be the entity preventing former President Donald Trump's return to the White House rather than any court.

"Donald Trump should not be prevented from being President by any court. He should be prevented from being President of the United States by the voters of this country," Christie declared in the wake of the Colorado Supreme Court ruling.

The court on Tuesday determined that Trump was ineligible to appear on the state's ballot under the 14th Amendment for inciting an insurrection in the form of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Riot. The court stayed its own ruling until Jan. 4 and Trump's campaign has vowed to appeal to the Supreme Court.

A prominent critic and direct opponent of Trump, Christie at a campaign event declined to comment on the merits of the court's decision, but said "I do not believe Donald Trump should be prevented from being president of the United States by any court. I think he should be prevented from being president of the United States by the voters of this country."

"I don't believe that it's good for our country if he's precluded from the ballot by a court," he said, before observing that Trump had never faced trial for inciting an insurrection and that he deserved a decision from a jury before having his rights revoked.

Donald Trump should not be prevented from being President by any court. He should be prevented from being President of the United States by the voters of this country. pic.twitter.com/77ChhLFkFz

— Chris Christie (@GovChristie) December 20, 2023

"On the principle, I don't believe a court should exclude somebody from running for president without there being a trial and evidence that's accepted by a jury that they did participate in an insurrection," he said. "I think it would cause a lot of anger in this country if people had the choice taken away from them."

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.