Dowd / Baker / Tribe / Press June 11, 2023June 10, 2023 Maureen Dowd is just so good about the indictment and the boxes. Truly, Peter Baker argues, Trump’s Case Puts the Justice System on Trial. (Actually, it’s Trump’s cases, not “case.” He faces at least 536 years in prison.) Lawrence Tribe hopes that even Trump’s favorite Florida judge will do the right thing when she reads the indictment. As for the “what-about-ism” that Trump and so many elected Republicans instantly invoked, someone named Emery writes: Before any right wingers start up with their “but other people had documents” nonsense, allow me to point out the distinctions: Pence: “I have classified documents. My bad! The FBI can come and get them.” Biden: “I have classified documents. My bad! The FBI can come and get them.” Trump: “I don’t have any documents at all, and I never did, except for the ones that I do, which I don’t. And what I have is my property, so the DOJ committed a crime by taking them back, even though I didn’t have them. I’m the victim here, because now they’re telling everyone what I had, even though I didn’t. And keeping classified and top secret documents isn’t illegal, even if it’s against the law. I didn’t do all of the things I did.” So, the situations aren’t identical. If the once-Grand Old Party holds debates, it will be interesting to see how Trump fares against Chris Christie. Bill Press: Chris Christie: The born-again anti-Trumper First, he was 100 percent anti-Trump. Then, he was 100 percent pro-Trump. Now, he’s 100 percent anti-Trump again. I’ll be honest. I don’t know what to think about Chris Christie. There’s so much about him not to like. Where to begin?His record as governor of New Jersey was one disaster after another. He attacked teachers and state government employees for wasting taxpayer dollars, but was then spotted using a state helicopter to fly to his son’s baseball game. He closed all state beaches as part of a government shutdown, but was then caught basking on the beach with friends and family.And then in 2013 there was “Bridgegate,” where – without his knowledge, Christie insisted – his administration caused transportation chaos by shutting two out of three lanes during rush hour on the George Washington Bridge because the Mayor of Ft. Lee refused to endorse Christie for re-election. He left office with a 15 percent approval rating, the lowest for any New Jersey governor in history.But, by that time, Christie had enough national notoriety that he joined 16 other candidates jumping into the 2016 GOP presidential primary – where he became Trump’s loudest critic, denouncing him as a “carnival barker” whose nomination would automatically hand the presidency to Hillary Clinton – before dropping out of the race himself the day after the New Hampshire primary.On Super Tuesday, Christie flipped. He became the first former primary opponent to endorse Trump, raising eyebrows by standing alongside Trump at Mar-a-Lago and asserting “There is no one who is better prepared to provide America with the strong leadership that it needs, both at home and around the world, than Donald Trump.”As top adviser to the Trump campaign, Christie crisscrossed the country for Trump, coached him for his debates with Hillary Clinton, and stood behind him on election night like a little puppy dog, only to be dealt with a string of indignities. Trump named him head of his transition team, but then fired him. Christie sought the job of attorney general, Trump gave it to Jeff Sessions, instead.Still, Christie stuck with Trump. He agreed to lead Trump’s task force on opioids. He was one of the first to endorse Trump for re-election. He again led that year’s presidential debates prep. He even remained loyal after being hospitalized with a serious case of Covid he caught at the White House and Trump called Christie, not to wish him well, but to ask: “Are you going to say you got it from me?” Christie never did.But, almost overnight, that loyal suck-up is now Trump’s number one Republican critic. And with a vengeance. Announcing his second run for president this week, Christie pulled no punches. He wasn’t running to win, he said. “I’m going to be very clear – I’m going out there to take out Donald Trump.”Why? Because, Christie said, “A lonely, self-consumer, self-serving mirror hog is not a leader.” And how would Trump, whom Christie calls a “Puppet of Putin,” deliver on his pledge to end the war in Ukraine on Day One? “Let me tell you how he would,” Christie told a crowd of supporters in New Hampshire. “He’d give Ukraine to Russia. He’d call Zelensky and say, ‘Hey, guess what? Time to raise the Russian flag up on the pole. We’re out of here.'”Nobody says it better. Certainly, none of the other declared candidates, most of whom are even afraid to utter Trump’s name. The only question is: Can we trust a man who’s flipped, flopped, and flipped again? And the answer is: No!But, even if we don’t trust him, we must admit that Chris Christie is telling the truth. Chris Christie’s right when he says that Donald Trump’s unfit to be president and the very fact that he’s being seriously considered for a second term is a national embarrassment. And he’s right when he argues you can never beat Donald Trump without taking him on directly – a role he’s willing to take on, even if nobody else has the guts to do so.Granted, Christie has no chance of winning the GOP nomination. Like the rest of the GOP field, he’s counting on Donald Trump to go to jail or have a heart attack. But it’s good having him in the race, if for no other reason than he’s willing to go where no other Republican candidate is willing to go.Yes, he’s a flawed candidate – aren’t they all? – but if I were a GOP primary voter, I’d vote for Chris Christie. Credit: Tribune Content Agency Send Bill’s column to a friend? Tweet it? Share it on Facebook?