Chris Christie branded Vivek Ramaswamy the “most obnoxious blowhard in America” as he angrily slammed his Republican rival during the party’s latest debate.
The former New Jersey governor lost his cool and attacked Mr Ramaswamy over his stance on ending Russia’s unprovoked war in Ukraine, claiming he wanted to appease Vladimir Putin and trusted Moscow over China.
“That’s not my deal, that’s not my deal,” Mr Ramaswamy said in response to the allegation.
“You do this every time,” countered Mr Christie as he wagged his finger towards him.
“Don’t interrupt me, I don’t interrupt you,” he continued as Mr Ramaswamy said “Go ahead send those kids to die” in reference to young American soldiers sent overseas.
Republican presidential candidate former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, gesturing towards businessman Vivek Ramaswamy during the Republican presidential primary debate— (AP)
“You do this at every debate. You go out on the stump and say something, all of us see it on video, we confront you on the debate stage, you say you didn’t say it and then you back away,” Mr Christie said.
As Mr Ramaswamy accused him of “spewing nonsense” Mr Christie, growing visibly more annoyed, loudly replied, “I’m not done yet.”
“This is the fourth debate in which within the first 20 minutes you would be voted the most obnoxious blowhard in America so shut up for a little while,” said Mr Christie to cheers from the Alabama audience.
Republican presidential candidate businessman Vivek Ramaswamy gesturing during an exchange with former New Jersey Gov Chris Christie— (AP)
And he continued: “We are now 25 minutes into this debate and he (Ramaswamy) has insulted Nikki Haley’s basic intelligence, not her positions, her basic intelligence...I’ll tell you this, I’ve known her for 12 years, which is longer than he’s been voting in a Republican primary, and while we disagree about some issues, and we disagree about who should be president of the United States, what we don’t disagree on is that this is a smart, accomplished woman and you should stop insulting her.”
The defence of Ms Haley drew a large cheer from the audience and a coy smile from Donald Trump’s former ambassador to the United Nations.
