Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) accused former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) of making a “pretty racist” comment toward entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy during Wednesday’s debate when he compared Ramaswamy to former President Barack Obama for joking that he is a “skinny guy with a funny last name.”
Some 20 minutes into the fiery and heated debate, Ramaswamy slammed his opponents, asserting he is the “only person on the stage who isn’t bought and paid for.”
Christie took offense and spoke over the Fox News moderators, Bret Baier and Martha McCallum, to declare he had “had enough already tonight of a guy who sounds like Chat GPT standing up here,” as Breitbart News reported:
Chris Christie just called @VivekGRamaswamy "Obama:"🤔
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) August 24, 2023
"I'm afraid we're dealing with the same kind of amateur."
VIVEK: "Give me a hug just like you did to Obama and you'll help elect me just like you did to Obama. Give me that damn hug, brother." pic.twitter.com/7TPromaODg
“The last person in one of these debates, Bret, who stood in the middle of the stage and said, ‘What’s a skinny guy with an odd last name doing up here?’ was Barack Obama, and I’m afraid we’re dealing with the same type of amateur standing on the stage tonight,” Christie added.
Following the debate, Greene and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) spoke with Right Side Broadcasting Network, where she said she “was pretty disgusted at Chris Christie and his racist comment towards Vivek Ramaswamy”:
Greene: I was pretty disgusted by Chris Christie and his racist comment towards Vivek Ramaswamy… He compared him to Obama. I thought that was pretty racist pic.twitter.com/iz41OgJVqh
— Acyn (@Acyn) August 24, 2023
“I mean, I honestly thought that was pretty racist,” she added.
Gaetz suggested Ramaswamy should have used the moment to mock Christie’s weight.
“If I was Vivek, I would’ve turned to Chris Christie and said, ‘I knew you would’ve gotten triggered by the skinny comment,’” Gaetz said.
When responding to the comparison on stage, Ramaswamy laughed, held his arms open for an embrace, and said, “Come over and give me a hug!” It was a reference to Christie’s infamous hug with Obama in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy’s destruction in New Jersey ahead of the 2012 general election.
“Give me a hug just like you did to Obama, and you’ll help elect me just like you did to Obama, too. Give me that bear hug, brother,” Ramaswamy said with a smile as the moderators lost control of the room.
The hug, which some stated hurt failed 2012 Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney in the general election, served as a vulnerable moment for Christie during a GOP presidential debate in 2015, when he and Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) slugged it out over the National Security Agency:
