Chris Christie blames war in Ukraine on Barack Obama, Donald Trump and Joe Biden: 'Failed leadership'

WASHINGTON — Presidential hopeful Chris Christie, who has asserted himself as former President Donald Trump’s chief antagonist in the 2024 Republican primary race, also took shots at former President Barack Obama and President Joe Biden Tuesday, pinning the war on Ukraine on all three presidents.

“The truth is that years of failed leadership are responsible for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s reign of terror in Eastern Europe. And it's only going to get worse,” Chris Christie’s campaign wrote in an email to supporters. “He took Crimea under Barack Obama, buddied up to Donald Trump, and knows that Joe Biden can't stop him from committing countless war crimes in Ukraine.”

The former New Jersey governor made a surprise visit to Ukraine last week, where he met with President Volodmyr Zelenskyy to reiterate his support for the war effort against Russia’s invasion. His trip comes as continuing U.S. aid to Kyiv divides Republicans. 

“I wanted to know about the atrocities that were being and are being committed against the free Ukrainian people by the Russian military,” Christie said on CNN’s “State of the Union” Sunday. “This is (an) absolute authoritarian attempt by Vladimir Putin to overtake the free country of a neighbor.”

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“America is right to supply and I spoke with President Zelenskyy for an hour,” Christie continued. “All he wants is the ability to fight the war on an even basis.”

Christie has slammed Trump before for suggesting the U.S. should slow its aid to Ukraine, but during the trip in an interview with the Washington Post, he also criticized Biden for being “too timid” with providing the supplies Kyiv needs.

Christie is expected to address his trip during multiple campaign events this week in New Hampshire, a key early voting state that his campaign has zeroed in on as he seeks the GOP nomination.

Trump still dominates the Republican field across the board, including the Granite State, where he has 43% support among New Hampshire GOP primary voters, according to a poll conducted by NHJournal and co-efficient. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Christie are behind Trump, both at 9% at second and third place respectively. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.3 percentage points.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chris Christie blames Ukraine on Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Joe Biden