Trump says it was ‘probably’ a mistake to have nominated Christopher Wray to lead the FBI and blames Chris Christie for recommending him

• In an interview set to air on Sunday, Trump said it was “probably” a mistake to have tapped Wray to lead the FBI.
• On Fox Business, Trump casts blame on Chris Christie for recommending Wray for the role.
• Conservatives in recent years have railed against the FBI, accusing the agency of political bias.

Former President Donald Trump in an interview set to air on Sunday said that it was “probably” a mistake to have nominated Christopher Wray to lead the FBI, and then cast blame on former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie for recommending the former US assistant attorney general for the role.

During a pre-taped conversation on the Fox Business program “Sunday Morning Futures” with host Maria Bartiromo, Trump was pointedly asked if it was a “mistake” to have tapped Wray to succeed James Comey as director of the FBI.

“Sadly, it probably was,” the former president told Bartiromo. “You know, he was recommended very strongly by Chris Christie, who is, you know, a sad case.”

Trump then proceeded to blast Christie over his standing in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, claiming that the former governor sat at 1% in the polls and “probably won’t make the debate stage.” (Christie is coming in just shy of 3% in the FiveThirtyEight average of GOP presidential polls, with the former governor polling at third place in at least two New Hampshire surveys, behind Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.)

Since entering the 2024 presidential campaign, Christie has criticized Trump over his conduct while in office —  especially during the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021 — and has said repeatedly that he is the candidate best suited to be the former president’s top competitor for the GOP nomination.

This week, House Republicans publicly railed against Wray and the FBI over the search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate last summer as part of a probe into the former president’s handling of classified documents upon his departure from the White House.

During the House Judiciary Committee hearing on Wednesday, Republicans also spoke out against what they believe is political bias against conservatives within the FBI.

Wray firmly rejected such an assertion.

“The idea that I’m biased against conservatives seems somewhat insane to me given my own personal background,” the director said in response to comments made by Wyoming GOP Rep. Harriet Hageman during the hearing.

Wray, a registered Republican, has led the agency since August 2017.

Christie on Wednesday defended Wray and dismissed the Republican-led attacks against the director.

“I think Chris Wray has done a very good job,” the former governor said. “A lot of the stuff you see today … is theater, that people are trying to raise money for campaigns. Doesn’t mean there aren’t problems at the FBI — there are. But I believe Chris is a guy who can get it fixed, and he’s fixed a lot of them already.”