Christie: I won't 'beat the bejesus' out of other GOP

MARSHALLTOWN -- Admitting it’s not always easy for him, Chris Christie says he is fighting urges to throw attacks at his fellow Republican presidential candidates.

“It’s going to be the obligation of the nominee to bring everybody together after (the primary is) over and if you haven’t been beating the bejesus out of everybody, you’ll have a better chance of doing that,” he said during a town hall Wednesday in a sports bar.

“And you know me: I’m from New Jersey, so I want to say lots of bad things. I’m working real hard at this, but my mind is focused on one thing and that’s beating Hillary Clinton and becoming the 45th president of the United States.”

Christie, the New Jersey governor know for blunt comments like telling a town hall audience member to “sit down and shut up” or telling residents to “get the hell off the beach" during Hurricane Sandy, was asked by an audience member Wednesday about the infighting among Republicans. He said it was a result of the large field and he wants to avoid the “tit for tat” and “name-calling craziness.”

Earlier this week, Donald Trump slammed Christie, attacking his record in New Jersey and calling him the “lapdog” of the New Hampshire Union Leader, a newspaper that endorsed Christie.

Christie has sidestepped the attack. Asked to respond multiple times in Iowa this week, Christie has said he wishes Trump and his wife a happy New Year.

But Christie’s high-road remarks also come only a day after he bashed Florida Sen. Marco Rubio for missing votes, saying: "Dude, show up to work and vote no,” and criticized Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for opposing federal surveillance programs, which Christie argues make the country safer.

“If I disagree with someone on an issue, I’ll say it, but I’m not going to get into this name-calling craziness,” Christie told the audience in Marshalltown.

Wednesday evening, Christie spoke at a Waukee sports bar to a crowd of about 300 -- his largest town hall yet in Iowa. He spoke for nearly two hours, taking 14 questions in a wide-ranging and laugh-filled town hall.

AT THE EVENTS

SETTING: A town hall at Legends American Grill in Marshalltown and a town hall at Mickey's Irish Pub in Waukee

CROWD: In Marshalltown, about 75 people filled a room in the sports bar. In Waukee, Christie drew his largest Iowa crowd yet, about 300 people. The room had a fire code capacity of 250, and several dozen more listened to the speech from a chilly overflow room in a vacant storefront next door. 

REACTION: The audiences mostly listened quietly but interrupted him with laughs and applause on several occasions. 

WHAT'S NEXT:The event in Waukee was the last of a two-day campaign trip to Iowa. No other events are scheduled.