Chris Christie says that when he was hospitalized with COVID-19 in October 2020, President Donald Trump called to make sure Christie wouldn’t blame him for the infection, according to The New York Times, which obtained an excerpt of Christie’s new book.
Trump made the call while he was hospitalized at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland, the excerpt cited in The Times said. Trump became infected with the virus during a White House coronavirus outbreak that resulted in at least 48 staff members testing positive for the coronavirus.
Trump was admitted to Walter Reed on October 2, and Christie checked himself into the Morristown Medical Center in New Jersey the next day.
The president was concerned by the optics of Christie’s hospitalization, the book excerpt said.
“Are you going to say you got it from me?” Christie recalled Trump asking him.
The account comes from Christie’s new book, “Republican Rescue: Saving the Party from Truth Deniers, Conspiracy Theorists, and the Dangerous Policies of Joe Biden,” which is set to be released Wednesday.
A representative for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.
In the book, Christie was also said to have detailed how unwell he became after being hospitalized. He wrote that his priest arrived in the hospital and prayed over him, rubbing oils on his forehead and signing the cross, The Times reported.
Christie was long a friend to and ally of Trump, helping him with debate preparations for the 2020 election, but the pair have publicly clashed in recent months.
Last week, Christie told CNN the former president needed to “tell the truth” about his 2020 election loss and move on. Trump responded by releasing a statement that said “everyone remembers that Chris left New Jersey with a less than 9% approval rating.”