STEPHANOPOULOS: “We’re joined now by our former ABC colleague, former governor of New Jersey, current Republican candidate for president, Chris Christie. Chris, thanks for coming in today.”

CHRISTIE: “Thank you.”

STEPHANOPOULOS: I want to talk about the broader race. But, first, you weren’t in Iowa. You weren’t at the Tucker Carlson forum. But if you were being pressed on Ukraine like that, how would you have responded?”

CHRISTIE: “I would have said, ‘You’ve always been wrong about this, Tucker, and you’re still wrong.’ That, in fact, what’s going on, George, is that this is a proxy war with China. The Chinese are funding the Russian war by buying Russian oil. They’re coordinating with the Iranians to provide lethal weapons to the Russian army. And we can decide when to have this conflict. Right now the Ukrainians are willing to fight this fight for themselves if they have our support to be able to win it. If the Chinese watch us back away from Ukraine, as Tucker Carlson and others would advocate, believe me, the next move will be Taiwan.”

STEPHANOPOULOS: “He was getting standing ovations. You don’t think that’s a big sell in the Republican Party?”

CHRISTIE: “I don’t. And I’ll tell you, as I travel around, George, look, I’m not saying there’s not some division in the party. There is. That’s obvious. But I still absolutely believe, both from what I’ve seen in polling and what I’m experiencing anecdotally, that a majority of Republicans want us to be supporting Ukraine because those folks are fighting for their own freedom, their own liberty, and they’re degrading the Russian army and sending a message to the Chinese. Those are all good things for America.”

[Christie didn’t get invited to the Iowa forum, so he wasn’t exactly ducking Tucker. It’s still a bit of long-distance bravado, though, which is how his attacks on Trump play too. He’s right about the polling on this, though — polls consistently show a majority of Republicans favoring support for Ukraine as long as it doesn’t include American troops. — Ed]