Former New Jersey Republican Gov. Chris Christie joined a growing list of conservatives criticizing President Trump’s continued attempts to reverse Joe Biden’s election victory.
Trump and Republicans have filed more than 30 election-related lawsuits so far, with most being dismissed, withdrawn or rejected. Not a single court has found evidence of voter fraud.
“Quite frankly, the conduct of the president’s legal team has been a national embarrassment,” Christie said in an interview on ABC News’ “This Week.” Christie specifically pointed to the behavior of Trump lawyer Sidney Powell who Christie says is “unwilling to go on TV and defend and lay out the evidence that she supposedly has.”
“This is outrageous conduct by any lawyer,” Christie said, adding that Trump’s legal team discusses fraud “outside the courtroom, but when they go inside the courtroom they don’t plead fraud and they don’t argue fraud.”
Powell was dropped by the campaign’s legal team on Sunday according to a statement released by Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani. “Sidney Powell is practicing law on her own,” the statement reads. “She is not a member of the Trump Legal Team. She is also not a lawyer for the President in his personal capacity.”
“You have an obligation to present the evidence,” Christie said. “The evidence has not been presented. And you must conclude — as [Fox News host] Tucker Carlson even concluded the other night — that if you’re unwilling to come forward and present the evidence, it must mean the evidence doesn’t exist.”
The normally Trump-friendly Carlson spoke out against Trump’s legal team on Thursday saying Powell “never demonstrated that a single actual vote was moved illegitimately by software from one candidate to another. Not one.”
Pennsylvania U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann chastised the president’s legal team in a 37-page ruling on Saturday. “In the United States of America, this cannot justify the disenfranchisement of a single voter, let alone all the voters of its sixth most populated state,” Brann wrote.
Christie’s remarks come as more Republicans are speaking out against Trump’s attempts to disenfranchise the American electorate.
Republican Senator Rob Portman of Ohio wrote an op-ed published on Monday arguing that Trump should begin working with Biden’s team on the transition. He said there remains “no evidence as of now of any widespread fraud or irregularities that would change the result in any state.”
One of Trump’s most loyal corporate supporters, Blackstone chairman, CEO, and co-founder Steve Schwarzman has also admitted that Biden won and it’s time to move on.
“I’m a fan of good processes,” Schwarzman said. “In my comments three days after the election, I was trying to be a voice of reason and express why it’s in the national interest to have all Americans believe the election is being resolved correctly. But the outcome is very certain today, and the country should move on.”
Republican Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania used the Brann decision as an opportunity to ask the president to move on and to congratulate Biden.
“With today’s decision,” Toomey said, “President Trump has exhausted all plausible legal options to challenge the result of the presidential race in Pennsylvania.”
“I congratulate President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on their victory. They are both dedicated public servants and I will be praying for them and for our country.”
