It looks like there’s a good chance Donald Trump will skip the first Republican primary debate in favor of doing an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. Or he may call in to other cable news shows to comment on the debate performances of his opponents. That’s the scuttlebutt others are telling The New York Post.

And there are two words that succinctly describe why this may happen: Chris Christie.

Christie is, without a doubt, Trump’s harshest critic. He is undaunted by Trump’s continual barrage of nasty comments about his weight, and he has worked for the former president. So he knows Trump quite well and can level him with ease. During an interview with conservative radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt, the former New Jersey governor cited Trump’s inability to deal effectively with foreign leaders such as China’s Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Christie also asserted Trump made serious foreign policy mistakes that made it easier for the war in Ukraine to begin.

“How can we expect him to do any better with Putin than having set the groundwork for the invasion of Ukraine, which his conduct towards Putin certainly helped to establish?” Christie told Hewitt.

“This is a guy who seems like he’s afraid,” Christie added. “And if he’s afraid, he has no business being president.”

And earlier this month, during an interview with CBS News’s Robert Costa, Christie noted at the time that he still believes Trump will show up for the debates saying “he loves to tease,” but then said if he doesn’t he’s a “Coward. Complete and total coward, a yellow streak so far down his back.”

Costa then asked:

“But he might think he’s elevating the rest of the field by showing up?”

“He’s elevating?” Christie retorted. “I’ve never seen Donald Trump elevate anything except for the ego factor.”

And Christie isn’t wrong about Trump’s massive ego.

Lately, he’s been upset over the photos that Fox News is “getting away with” broadcasting “the absolutely worst pictures” of him as reports continue to indicate he is likely to skip the debate.

The 77-year-old former president singled out Fox & Friends for special attention, accusing it of hiding national polls that show him defeating President Joe Biden in the 2024 election.

“Why doesn’t Fox and Friends show all of the Polls where I am beating Biden, by a lot. They just won’t do it!” Trump whined on Truth Social. “Also, they purposely show the absolutely worst pictures of me, especially the big ‘orange’ one with my chin pulled way back.”

“They think they are getting away with something, they’re not,” Trump retorted. “Just like 2016 all over again … And then they want me to debate!”

As for the photos, it’s tough to figure out which one he’s referring to, as there are quite a few “orange” photos “with his chin pulled way back”. But based on research others have done, it appears this is the photo he hates the most:

So he’s playing the victim again. Something he does best. Presidential candidates are generally expected to appear for debates. What part of this does he not understand?

And, of course, he hasn’t signed the pledge, nor have Christie, former Vice President Mike Pence, or Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.). But we already know Christie, Pence, and Scott are pretty much guaranteed to show. Trump is the odd man out.

Maybe the disgraced former president will do an interview with the disgraced former Fox News host. Or maybe not. But I really do think Trump is running scared from Christie, who at 60 is considerably younger than him and almost certainly more intelligent.

We can expect even more fun from Trump until the GOP finally decides who the nominee will be.

Oh, goody! I can hardly wait.🙄