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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says “he felt justified” with his takedown of rival Marco Rubio in the latest GOP presidential debate.

Christie is looking ahead to the general election, and he thinks Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic nominee.

On Sunday Christie was using Rubio’s debate performance to speculate about how the Florida senator would fare in a debate against Clinton.

The New Jersey governor puts it this way during an appearance on “Fox News Sunday”: Do Republicans want someone who can “absolutely answer” Clinton’s “every parry” or “someone who will crumble in front” of the former secretary of state?

Christie and Rubio, along with Jeb Bush and John Kasich, are jockeying to become the preferred alternative to outsiders Donald Trump and Ted Cruz in the GOP race.

Rubio seems best positioned to seize that spot after his third-place finish in Iowa. But Christie says Rubio’s isn’t ready for the presidency.

The New Jersey governor is seizing on Rubio’s repetitious characterization of Barack Obama’s presidency when Christie repeatedly challenged Rubio’s executive experience: “There it is, the memorized 25-second speech. There it is everybody,” Christie said at one point in the debate.

(AP)