Leader in the polls Donald Trump was branded “Donald Duck” tonight during the second Republican candidate debate by Chris Christie.
Christie attacked the former president for deciding to skip the GOP debate to instead speak to current and former union members outside Detroit.
The former New Jersey Governor said: “You’re not here tonight because you’re afraid to defend your record.
Trump was 2,000 miles away, giving a rousing speech to current and former union members near Detroit, Michigan.
To huge applause – and chants of “Trump! Trump! Trump!” – the former president told the autoworkers he would “dismantle the corrupt power structure” to rebuild America’s “industrial bedrock”.
Meanwhile, over in the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley, CA — which also happens to be a Democratic stronghold – Christie was one of seven GOP candidates debating on the stage,
He was joined by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former Vice President Mike Pence and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, are all set to take the stage.
Christie was the first candidate to take a swipe at Donald Trump, claiming that he “hides behind the walls of his golf course” and refuses to appear on the stage with the rest of the candidates”.
Trump’s campaign team swiftly hit back at Christie, with a succinct post on X (formerly Twitter). Team Trump simply said: “WE MUST MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
It wasn’t the only comical moment, though.
Former Vice President Mike Pence made the first huge gaffe of the GOP debate, claiming that America needs to “repeal the Green New Deal”.
The problem is, the Green New Deal never passed in Congress.
Some experts are suggesting that Pence was, instead, referring to the infrastructure bill, which was passed in a near-unanimous bipartisan approval.
Also during the debate, DeSantis finally took aim at his rival Trump, stating he was “missing in action”.
