Giuliani tore into Chris Christie after the former governor called the Trump legal team 'a national embarrassment' on TV, book says

• Giuliani was incensed at Christie criticizing the Trump legal team on TV, a forthcoming book says.
• "We're friends. What are you doing?" Giuliani asked the former governor, according to the book.
• Christie then questioned Giuliani about the damage he was causing to his reputation, the book adds.

In November, former Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey made an appearance on ABC's "This Week" in which he blasted then-President Donald Trump's legal efforts to contest the 2020 election.

"The president has had an opportunity to access the courts," the Republican said at the time. "If you've got the evidence of fraud, present it. What's happened here is, quite frankly - the conduct of the president's legal team has been a national embarrassment."

While Christie is known for his blunt talk, the comments were notable since he was considered an ally of the Trump White House.

Rudy Giuliani, who was Trump's personal lawyer at the time, saw the interview and felt "as if he had been stabbed in the back," says a forthcoming book by the Washington Post reporters Carol D. Leonnig and Philip Rucker.

Giuliani proceeded to call Christie, with whom he had maintained a decades-long friendship, according to the book.

Leonnig and Rucker described the phone conversation in "I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump's Catastrophic Final Year," an early copy of which was obtained by Insider.

According to the book, Giuliani was incensed at Christie and asked him why he would make such comments on television.

"We're friends. What are you doing?" Giuliani asked the former governor, the book says. Christie responded: "Rudy, this is ridiculous. You need to stop."

Giuliani then told Christie that he would be "embarrassed" once the evidence of a tainted election was disclosed to the public, according to the book.

Read more: The definitive oral history of how Trump took over the GOP, as told to us by Cruz, Rubio, and 20 more insiders

Christie then explained his earlier comments and questioned Giuliani on why he would damage his reputation, according to the book.

"I don't like to call the legal team 'a national embarrassment' on television. But it is," Christie said, according to the book. "You're hanging out with Sidney Powell. Are you kidding me? She's f---ing nuts.

"What's what with you. You were the mayor. You were one of the true national leadership heroes in the last half of the twentieth century. What are you doing?"

Giuliani was less than impressed with Christie's worldview, according to the book.

"F--- legacy," Giuliani responded, the book says. "Legacy is what happens when you're in the ground. I'm fighting for today."

The former New York City mayor then invited Christie to become a part of the Trump legal team, the book says.

"Stop complaining and shooting off your mouth on TV," Giuliani said, according to the book. "Join the legal team and make a difference." Christie responded: "You're kidding me, right? No, thank you. I'll pass."

According to the book, the two Republicans "ended the call on bitter terms."

Giuliani, speaking through a spokesperson to the authors of the book, denied that the conversation between the two men occurred.

The Trump campaign went on to file over 40 campaign lawsuits, and none of them were successful at changing the outcome of the presidential election, which President Joe Biden won with 306 electoral votes.