Donald Trump may be firing shots at Gov. Chris Christie, but the famously pugnacious spent much of Monday refusing to fire back. That ended by day's end.
PORTSMOUTH, N.H. -- After Republican front-runner Donald Trump painted a target on his back on Monday, Gov. Chris Christie spent much of the day refusing to hit back at the billionaire businessman he considers a friend.
But as tensions between the two rose, Christie ended the day taking his own shots, saying that with Trump, "outrageous is a high bar" and suggesting that Trump's mocking a reporter with a disability "is not worthy of someone running for president of the United States."
And Trump, of course, fired back.
Early Monday morning, Trump issued a rare criticism of the governor. After Christie won the endorsement of New Hampshire's largest newspaper over the weekend, the GOP front-runner lambasted him on Twitter for spending so much time here.
How is Chris Christie running the state of NJ, which is deeply troubled, when he is spending all of his time in NH? New Jerseyans not happy!
-- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 30, 2015
The governor, who is approaching his 50th day campaigning in the Granite State, took a few swipes at Trump, but tried hard to avoid a war of words.
At a campaign stop in Portsmouth to pick up an endorsement from GOP activists Renee and Dan Plummer, Christie deflected questions about Trump.
Asked by one reporter if Trump's Twitter broadside meant that Christie was finally gaining traction in the first-in-the-nation primary state, the governor demurred.
"You'd have to ask Donald about that. I'm happy to get the attention from Donald. I'm happy to take whatever advice he has, you know, in a 140 characters or less," said Christie.
"That seems to be the way he communicates the best. So that's fine. Doesn't bother me at all."
Still, earlier during the event, Christie was at pains to note that his 2016 presidential bid hinged on New Hampshire in part because of its close proximity to New Jersey, and because trips here meant less of an intrusion into his work day as governor.
"The more people see me, the better I do, so that's why I've spent a lot of time here," said Christie, "And it's convenient too. Getting to New Hampshire is not as big a trip as going to some other places, and that helps as well, cause you can be here more frequently and still do you day job."
At the campaign stop, Christie contradicted Trump's assertion that he'd seen "thousands and thousands" of New Jersey's Muslim population taking to the streets on 9/11 celebrate the fall of the World Trade Center, but he declined to criticize Trump for having made such claims in the first place.
"It didn't happen," said the governor, said of the supposed tailgate parties of Muslims celebrating the Twin Towers collapse, before adding a oblique reference to Trump. "The fact is, people can say whatever they like."
Asked by one reporter if repeatedly making false claims about Muslim Americans should disqualify Trump from becoming president, Christie again refused to attack the tycoon, who owns three New Jersey golf courses and once owned three Atlantic City casinos.
"The only thing that disqualifies someone from being president is not getting enough votes to be president. Or not being 35 or a native born American," said Christie. "Other than that, there's noting else that disqualifies you ... I'm not going to get into all that stuff that Dr. (Ben) Carson's gotten into, who should be president, who shouldn't be...The American people will decide who should be president."
But in an interview with CNN, Christie was more critical of Trump.
"Everybody else can figure out what they think is outrageous or not outrageous -- in the context of Donald, outrageous is a high bar," he said.
Christie also criticized Trump for mocking a reporter who is disabled and challenged Trump's 9/11 claims. Trump denies mocking the reporter's disability.
"You shouldn't be making fun of people with disabilities. It's just not worthy of someone running for president of the United States," Christie told CNN.
After being told Christie contradicted his claims of New Jersey Muslim celebrations of 9/11, Trump seemed to issue an ominous warning to CNBC's John Harwood.
Trump after being told Christie now says NJ Muslim celebrations didn't happen: "He really needs to be careful about what he says"
-- John Harwood (@JohnJHarwood) November 30, 2015
Trump repeated that to reporters in New York City after a meeting with black ministers, according to CNN. He noted that Christie's initial reaction was that he "didn't recall" any such celebrations.
"He didn't say that the other day. He was very weak the other day," Trump said of Christie, according to CNN. "So the other day he said it like, well, he doesn't know. And now, I guess he feels a little bit emboldened. He must be careful with what he says."
Claude Brodesser-Akner may be reached at cbrodesser@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ClaudeBrodesser. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.