Republican presidential primary candidate Chris Christie made a surprise visit to Ukraine on Friday. He came with a gift for President Zelensky.

Christie, the former governor and current frenemy of Donald Trump, reached out to singer and New Jersey resident Bon Jovi. Bon Jovi’s classic hit, “It’s My Life” is a favorite of Ukrainians. Bon Jovi wrote out the lyrics and had them framed as a show of support to Zelensky and Ukrainians.

“[The song] served as an inspiration for a lot of the citizens in Odessa, as they were preparing for the invasion by the Russians,” Christie told CNN’s”State of the Union” Sunday.

“[Bon Jovi] wrote it out in his own hand, got it framed, and I brought it to President Zelensky … and said that this is representative of many of the American people and what they feel about the cause that’s being fought for in Ukraine.”

Christie is the second Republican presidential candidate to visit Ukraine – Mike Pence was the first one to do so. He went in June. Biden went there in February to mark the one year anniversary of Putin’s invasion into Ukraine. No one should be surprised to see more Republican candidates make the trip. It seems almost to be a rite of passage for prominent people, especially politicians, to visit Kyiv and have their photo op with Zelensky. Bonus points for video of a walking tour of a war-torn area with Zelensky.

Christie was a guest on CNN Sunday and he talked about some of the brutality he saw during his trip. He called the trip a fact-finding mission. He is a strong supporter of Ukraine at a time when some Republican voters are souring on the seemingly endless financial support for the country. Biden keeps saying the money will continue to go to Ukraine “as long as it takes.” There are worries that Ukraine may be the next endless war.

To make his point that continued support of Ukraine is the right thing to do, he went into some graphic details.

He said he wants the American people to “know about the atrocities that were being and are being committed against the free Ukrainian people.”

“I went to the town of Bucha where I went to a shallow grave of 160 civilians who were executed by the Russian army,” Christie recounted. “But before they were executed, for many of them, their eyes were gouged out. Their ears were cut off.”

“Then their hands were tied behind their back and they were shot in the back of the head by Russian soldiers. Civilians. Not soldiers, civilians,” Christie stressed. “Then Russian soldiers went in and raped the mothers and the daughters that were in the house after the men of the house had been killed.”

Christie took the opportunity to criticize Trump for past remarks about Putin. Trump has described Putin as brilliant and an excellent leader. Christie said, “That’s the kind of thing that Donald Trump will bring back to the presidency.”

Chris Christie has no hope of winning the Republican nomination. I think he realizes that. Nonetheless, he will remain in the primary contest at least to the New Hampshire primary. He is putting everything on that primary. He wants to slow Trump’s momentum and ultimately stop him from winning the nomination. He’s in the race to prevent Trump from getting the nomination, not because he expects to be the nominee. He has tunnel vision on that one goal.

In the meantime, Christie will continue to do things to keep him in the news. He’s regularly interviewed on Fox and other networks. Every interview brings new insults to Trump and name-calling, just as he bashes Trump for doing. On Sunday, I heard Christie call Trump a coward and say he’s lazy.

Polling shows most Americans want to put a stop to sending funding to Ukraine. Zelensky knows that and he praised Christie for coming to Ukraine. He also thanked Americans for their support.

The Ukrainian president said it was very important that Christie “began his visit to Ukraine with a visit to Bucha to see with his own eyes the threat to freedom and to everyone in the world posed by Russian aggression.”

Russian forces committed widespread human rights abuses while occupying Bucha and other areas north of Kyiv.

Zelensky said that, in his meeting with Christie, “I thanked all Americans, each and every one, for their vital support.”

Who will be the next to go to Ukraine? I’m kind of surprised Nikki Haley hasn’t gone, since she’s the most hawkish in the field of candidates.

Last year there was a video of a Ukrainian band playing @BonJovi “It’s My Life” during war efforts.

Bon Jovi wanted to return the favor and went above and beyond with handwritten lyrics and a message of support. I was honored to deliver this message of support to @ZelenskyyUa. https://t.co/qWOqZLWoog

— Chris Christie (@GovChristie) August 5, 2023