Megyn Kelly Says Chris Christie Blew Up Over GOP Debate Airtime (& She's Not Sorry)

The fourth GOP debate had fireworks involving Megyn Kelly and Chris Christie on December 6. Kelly moderated the event on NewsNation alongside the network's anchor Elizabeth Vargas and editor-in-chief of the Washington Free Beacon Eliana Johnson. Just before heading into a break, Christie was involved in a heated exchange with fellow nominee hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy. In response to Ramaswamy telling the former New Jersey governor to "enjoy a nice meal," Christie called him "the most obnoxious blowhard in America" (via the Daily Caller).

Afterwards, Christie approached Kelly and appeared to unload on the former Fox News anchor, as was captured in a viral clip posted to X (formerly known as Twitter). "Chris Christie is now throwing a FIT to Megyn Kelly after Vivek told him to go enjoy a nice meal," a user tweeted alongside footage of the exchange.

The following day, Kelly discussed what Christie said when he approached her and the other moderators as they went to break. "He was p***ed off," she said on an episode of "The Megyn Kelly Show" which aired on December 7. According to Kelly, Christie was upset at the distribution of questions and believed he was not getting enough time to speak. "And he said, 'I made it up at this stage, and I haven't been able to speak in awhile.'" Kelly also explained why she did not believe Christie deserved as much airtime as some other candidates.

Discussing how Chris Christie lost his temper on her during the fourth GOP debate, Megyn Kelly said she told the Republican nominee hopeful that he would be addressed more in the second half of the debate. Kelly believed that Christie was given ample time to speak, considering his waning popularity. "He's polling at 2%!" she said on "The Megyn Kelly Show" on December 7. She went on to add, "I don't want to hear it, frankly. We did right by him. He got a ton of airtime. That's what he was mad about." Another touchy moment for Christie may have been when Kelly brought up his low approval rating in comparison to Donald Trump's. "You even said you got into this race just to stop President Trump," she said. "His approval rating with Republicans is currently at 81%. Yours is at 25."

Not only was Christie irked by his lack of airtime, he clearly bothered by the exchange between himself and Vivek Ramaswamy which happened just before the viral clip of Christie approaching Kelly was filmed. After the debate, Christie did not mince words when discussing Ramaswamy. "He is a jackass," the former New Jersey governor said on CNN (via The Daily Mail). Christie took issue with how the businessman spoke to fellow debater Nikki Haley. "And I think that Vivek does have a woman problem. I do think he insults women's basic intelligence," he added.

Prior to the GOP debate there was some tense history between Kelly and Christie. 

Megyn Kelly has sided with Donald Trump over Chris Christie in the past, which could perhaps be a point of contention between the pair. On August 8, Christie shared a video clip of Trump bashing his weight. In the clip, Trump said to the audience, "Don't call him a fat pig," while referring to Christie. The former governor replied on X while tweeting the clip, "If you had the guts you would show up to the debate and say it to my face."

A couple days later, Kelly came to the defense of the former president, as she believed the labels Christie had given Trump were far worse. "Every chance he gets he calls Trump a 'criminal,'" she said on "The Megyn Kelly Show" on August 10. "I'd rather somebody call me a 'fat pig' than a criminal." She continued by saying she did not believe that Trump's comments about Christie's weight would lead to the one-time president losing any "heavyset" voters. "Trump's admitted that he himself has got a bit of a weight problem in the past," Kelly said.

Later that month, Christie participated in the first GOP debate. Kelly was not the moderator of that event, but chimed in with her thoughts on X, and again sided with Trump. "With no clear winner, the winner was Trump. Nothing happened to change the dynamic of this race tonight," Kelly tweeted on August 23.