Chris Christie knows Donald Trump quite well, and he doesn’t pull any punches when talking about the former president. In an interview with the New York Times, published Saturday, he definitely had some interesting things to say.

Of course, much of what he said will sound familiar — he blasted the ex-president for being a “control freak” who is “scared” of going to jail as his legal troubles continue to mount.

The former New Jersey governor is among several Republicans battling Trump for the party’s presidential nomination in the 2024 election. He formerly supported Trump but is now one of his sharpest critics among Republicans.

Newsweek reports that Christie has sharply condemned Trump as his legal problems continue to build. There’s that indictment case surrounding alleged campaign finance violations while he was running for president in 2016, and now, of course, Special Counsel Jack Smith, who’s on his tail and is almost certainly upping the pressure now that he’s been indicted for allegedly handling classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.

You’d think with all this legal fun that Trump would be the least popular of the GOP candidates, but nope. He’s still the frontrunner despite the ongoing legal drama.

This really makes me wonder what the heck is wrong with Republicans. So they still think it’s fine that a man who encouraged a large mob of people to engage in a deadly riot? A man who has told so many lies it’s hard to know where to begin and who has embarrassed the U.S. on the world court?

I guess I’ll never understand these people.

And as he discussed the situation with the Times, Christie was asked about what Trump’s mental state may be like as these legal troubles continue. Trump has kept insisting he’s innocent and confident that he will be exonerated, some of his former allies, including his former chief of staff John Kelly, and others have suggested he’s more afraid than he lets on.

Christie concurred with this, agreeing that Trump is likely nervous as his trials loom.

“He’s scared. Look, a guy like him, the last place you ever want to be in life is in jail because you give up all control, and he’s a complete control freak,” Christie said.

He’s probably also upset that he can’t control what all these legal officials are doing. I’m sure that doesn’t sit well with him either.

But Christie said he believes Trump’s huge “ego” will compel him to attend the GOP debates, even though he has said he won’t participate in Fox News’ upcoming debate for the Republican presidential candidates because “all they do is promote” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, his top rival.

“I think that he’ll show up at the debates because his ego won’t permit him not to,” Christie said. “He can’t have a big TV show that he’s not on. He’s on Truth Social going bonkers, and no one’s paying attention? He won’t deal well with that.”

Indeed, I think if there’s one thing we’ve learned it’s that Trump can’t stand to not be the center of attention.

Christie is among a handful of Republican candidates who have willingly attacked Trump, despite the former president’s popularity with a sizable percentage of the Republican electorate. He has mocked Trump as a “spoiled baby” and the “cheapest person I’ve ever met.” He’s called on his fellow Republicans to move away from Trump and his style of politics.

Despite this, many Republican voters still support him, according to recent polls.

One recent Fox News poll, conducted from June 23 to 26 among 392 registered voters reported that Trump was leading the national primary with 56 percent of the vote. DeSantis is his closest competitor, with 22 percent, while only one percent of Republican voters say they plan to support Christie. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Of course, it’s still well over a year before the election and so much can change in that time. I really don’t know what’s going to happen in that time but I hope the Democrats are paying attention. Biden is running, but I hope the Democrats also have other candidates in the running. Biden held his first campaign in Philadelphia last month but he’s going to have to keep up a hectic pace and I’m not sure he has that in him.

And I just think voters need to have more choices. I know that Marianne Williamson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are running. Now let’s see a few more Democrats jump in.