共和党总统候选人克里斯·克里斯蒂周日表示，竞争对手唐纳德·特朗普不应对此不屑一顾他越来越多的起诉，所有这些他都否认。

“如果可能的话，特朗普需要在这一点上变得聪明和谨慎。他是一名刑事被告，”克里斯蒂告诉美国广播公司“本周”节目主持人乔纳森·卡尔。

前新泽西州州长、前美国广播公司新闻撰稿人、前特朗普盟友兼批评者克里斯蒂强调，特朗普在三起不同的刑事案件中被起诉，第四起案件可能会在佐治亚州提起，这意味着他和共和党选民都必须在未知的水域航行。

特朗普对他的所有指控都不认罪，迄今为止，这些指控来自纽约州法院、佛罗里达州联邦法院和华盛顿特区联邦法院。预计亚特兰大地区的一名检察官本周将向大陪审团提交第四起案件。

特朗普受到了一些与他的起诉有关的限制，例如联邦法官签发的保护令监督他1月6日在华盛顿的案子。该命令禁止披露特朗普将通过检察官的发现了解到的“敏感”信息。法官还警告不要发表“煽动性言论”，“这可能会玷污陪审团或恐吓潜在证人。”

特朗普纽约州案件的法官发布了类似的命令.

克里斯蒂在“本周”节目中说，“你受到某些限制，你受到这些限制的原因是因为大陪审团已经发现有可能的原因表明你犯了罪。”

挑战华盛顿联邦法官的观点-他说“政治活动的存在不会对我的决定产生任何影响”-克里斯蒂说“我认为不可能没有政治影响这个案子。这不是一个普通的刑事案件，所以政治将会对此有所影响。”

克里斯蒂说，特朗普将于明年受审，同时他也将在共和党初选最激烈的时候参加竞选审判，这意味着共和党选民可以做出自己的判断。

“我认为所有这些事情都是人们在总统竞选中第一次必须处理的事情，”他说。“我认为共和党选民必须问自己两件事:首先，鉴于他所犯下的行为，他真的是在四个不同案件中受到指控的那个人吗?他能在2024年11月击败乔·拜登或任何其他民主党人吗?我们什么时候才能停止假装这很正常?”

克里斯蒂此前曾在2016年竞选总统，并在6月初发起了第二次总统竞选。他毫不犹豫地谴责前总统，包括迄今为止几乎在他的每一次竞选活动中。

就特朗普而言，他认为克里斯蒂是一个“失败的”候选人和州长，到目前为止的早期民调显示，克里斯蒂严重落后于特朗普和其他有希望的人。

在“本周”节目中，卡尔引用了一段广为流传的视频，视频来自2016年竞选期间的一场辩论，当时克里斯蒂击败了对手马尔科·卢比奥。

“回顾自那以来发生的一切，你有没有希望自己当初是针对唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)而不是马尔科·卢比奥出手的?”卡尔问道。

克里斯蒂回应道，“琼恩，现在回想起来，我真希望我把他们两个都打了。”

“我们在2016年都犯了一个错误:我自己、马尔科、杰布·布什、约翰·卡西奇，没有去追唐纳德·特朗普，”克里斯蒂继续说道，他指的是2016年的其他共和党候选人——他们每个人在不同时期都被视为比最终获胜的特朗普更合法。

“我认为我们有一种错觉，不知何故，当时对我们来说显而易见的，舞台上有一些比他更好的候选人，将会对公众显而易见，”克里斯蒂说。“那倒不是。我认为这应该会影响到每个人对这次比赛的态度。当然，它正在通知我的。”

2024年第一场共和党初选辩论将于8月23日在密尔沃基举行。为了登上舞台，候选人必须签署忠诚誓言共和党全国委员会承诺最终支持任何赢得提名的人。

克里斯蒂和特朗普都批评了忠诚誓言。特朗普上周表示，他不会签署这份协议:“我可以说出三四个我不会支持的总统候选人。所以就在这里，有一个问题。”

他还表示，鉴于他在民调中的领先优势，他认为没有必要参加第一场辩论。

“我认为他们(RNC)是认真希望签署这一承诺的，我也确实认为，如果唐纳德·特朗普选择不签署这一承诺，他们会让他下台，”克里斯蒂在“本周”节目中说

尽管如此，“我认为这是一种荒谬的戏剧，”他说。“早在我参加竞选之前，我就已经向RNC明确表示，我认为这一承诺是个坏主意，而唐纳德·特朗普现在正在玩这个游戏。但他就是这么做的。”

克里斯蒂本人尚未签署承诺书，并于周日表示，辩论组织者尚未向他提交承诺书，因为他们仍在核实候选人上台的资格。

他曾表示，他将勉强签署该法案，并在“本周”节目中预测，尽管特朗普表示抗议，但他也可能会签署。

克里斯蒂说:“如果他在下周周日或周一签署誓言，并在周三出现在舞台上，我一点也不会感到惊讶。”“他可能也不会，但我不会感到惊讶。这是关于唐纳德·特朗普保持对唐纳德·特朗普的关注。”

Trump 'needs to be smart and careful' in campaigning under serious criminal charges: Christie

Republican presidential candidateChris Christiesaid Sunday that rival Donald Trump should not shrug offhis mounting indictments, all of which he denies.

"Trump needs to be smart and careful about this, if that's at all possible. Which is that he is a criminal defendant," Christie told ABC "This Week" co-anchor Jonathan Karl.

Christie, a former governor of New Jersey, former ABC News contributor and former Trump ally-turned-critic, stressed that Trump being prosecuted in three different criminal cases, with a fourth potentially coming in Georgia, means both he and Republican voters will have to navigate uncharted waters.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to all of his charges, which so far come out of New York state court, federal court in Florida and federal court in Washington, D.C. An Atlanta-area prosecutor is expected this week to present a fourth case to a grand jury there.

Some restrictions have been placed on Trump related to his indictments, such asa protective order issued by the federal judgeoverseeing his Jan. 6 case in Washington. That order bars the disclosure of "sensitive" information that Trump will learn via discovery from prosecutors. The judge also warned against "inflammatory statements" that "could taint the jury pool or intimidate potential witnesses."

The judge in Trump's New York state caseissued a similar order.

Christie said on "This Week" that "you get subject to certain restrictions, and the reason you're subject to those restrictions is because a grand jury has found there's probable cause that you've committed criminal acts."

Challenging the view of the federal judge in Washington -- who said "the existence of a political campaign will not have any bearing on my decision" -- Christie said that "I think it is impossible to not have politics inform some of this case. It's not a normal criminal case, and so politics is going to inform some of it."

Trump is slated to go on trial next year at the same time that he will also be on the campaign trial in the thick of the Republican primary -- meaning GOP voters can render their own judgment, Christie said.

"I think all of these things are things people are going to have to process for the very first time in a presidential race," he said. "And what I think Republican voters have to ask themselves is two things: First is, is he really the guy under indictment in four different cases, given the conduct that he committed, someone who can beat Joe Biden or any other Democrat in November 2024? And when are we going to stop pretending that this is normal?"

Christie previously ran for president in 2016 and launched a second presidential bid in early June. He hasn't hesitated to denounce the former president, including at nearly every one of his campaign events thus far.

Trump, for his part, has dismissed Christie as a "failed" candidate and governor and early polls so far show Christie badly trailing Trump and other hopefuls.

On "This Week," Karl cited a widely circulated video from a debate during the 2016 campaign when Christie hammered opponent Marco Rubio.

"Looking back at all that has happened since then, do you ever wish that you had taken that swing at Donald Trump and not at Marco Rubio?" Karl asked.

Republican presidential candidate and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie speaks at a Tell it Like it Is PAC town hall campaign event in Salem, New Hampshire, on Aug. 9, 2023.

Brian Snyder/Reuters

Christie responded, "I wish I'd taken swings of both of them, Jon, looking back on it."

"We all made a mistake in 2016: Myself, Marco, Jeb Bush, John Kasich, in not going after Donald Trump," Christie continued, referring to other 2016 Republican candidates -- each of whom at different times were seen as more legitimate than Trump, the eventual winner.

"I think we were under the illusion that somehow what was obvious to us at the moment, that there were some better candidates on stage than him, would be obvious to the public," Christie said. "It wasn't. And I think it should inform everybody's approach to the race this time. Certainly, it's informing mine."

The first 2024 Republican primary debate will be held on Aug. 23, in Milwaukee. To make it on the stage, candidateshave to sign a loyalty pledgewith the Republican National Committee that promises to eventually back whomever wins the nomination.

Both Christie and Trump have criticized the loyalty pledge. Trump said last week that he wouldn't sign it: "I can name three or four people that I wouldn't support for president. So right there, there's a problem."

He has also suggested he sees no point in attending the first debate, given his polling lead.

"I think that they [the RNC] are serious about wanting this pledge signed, and I do think they would keep Donald Trump off the stage if he chose not to sign the pledge," Christie said on "This Week."

Still, "I think this is all kind of nonsensical theater," he said. "I've made that clear to the RNC as well, way back, even before I entered the race, that I thought the pledge was a bad idea, and Donald Trump is now playing that game. But that's what he does."

Christie himself has yet to sign the pledge and said Sunday that debate organizers haven't presented it to him as they are still verifying eligibility for candidates to take the stage.

He has said he will reluctantly sign it and on "This Week" predicted that Trump, despite his protestations, might as well.

"I would not be the least bit surprised if sometime around Sunday or Monday of next week that he signs the pledge, and he shows up on the stage on Wednesday," Christie said. "He might not also, but I would not be the least bit surprised if he did. This is about Donald Trump keeping the attention on Donald Trump."