Christie: GOP committing ‘malpractice’ to try to win Congress

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said Sunday the GOP is committing “malpractice” in its efforts to retain control of Congress amid a tough midterm environment for the party.

Christie — a former Republican presidential candidate — discussed the surprisingly competitive Senate election in Kansas while appearing on ABC News’s “ This Week .”

“As a Republican, I sat here shaking my head at the political malpractice that was committed on this air with you [host Jonathan Karl] by [House Majority Whip] Tom Emmer [(R-Minn.)],” he said.

Christie said he identified three cornerstones to “the Republican argument for the last three weeks.” He first drew attention to President Trump’s controversial oil deal , which Christie argued will give Russia the money “to kill free Ukrainians.”

The former governor also pointed to rising prices “at the grocery store and at the gas station” which he said the GOP is trying to avoid and reframe as “American people don’t get the fact that the economy is great.”

Christie then mentioned the Pentagon’s recent decision to livestream the execution of convicted Fort Hood shooter Nidal Hasan.

“This is malpractice, and the fact is Tom is smarter than that. He knows better than that. But what you heard throughout it is this absolute requirement that you must stand by everything Donald Trump says and does,” Christie continued.

“If you want to remain in leadership in the House or the Senate, and it is, it is malpractice to good Republicans all across this country who care about the issues we care about,” he said.

Christie ran for president in 2016 before becoming a Trump ally during the president’s first term. That changed when he ran against Trump in the Republican primaries in 2024. In September, he teased a third potential presidential bid but said it would depend on the 2026 midterm results.

The upcoming election has Democrats favored to win the House and, more narrowly, the Senate this fall, according to the latest forecasts from Decision Desk HQ (DDHQ), a partner of The Hill, amid problematic approval numbers for the president and growing voter anger over the economy under a Republican-led Washington.

Kansas’s Senate race seems to be emblematic of this pattern as incumbent Sen. Roger Marshall (R-Kansas) struggles against Democratic opponent Adam Hamilton. DDHQ also wrote in a polling analysis that Hamilton gives Democrats an “outside shot” of flipping Kansas’s Senate seat.