The day after a strong performance in the Republican debate, Governor Christie is slapping down Vivek Ramaswamy for insulting his fellow candidates at Milwaukee as “bought and paid for,” even as the New Jerseyan allows that he does think Governor DeSantis as “rented.”

“When a guy who’s barely ever voted gets on the stage,” Mr. Christie said of Mr. Ramaswamy in a “Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show” interview, “and says, ‘Everybody but me on this stage is bought and paid for,’ I don’t know how you take him seriously.”

Mr. Christie began defending his fellow candidates in line with President Reagan’s 11th Commandment — never criticize a fellow Republican — which, as I wrote in the Sun, they respected for the most part Wednesday, boosting the party’s chances by focusing their sharpest barbs at President Biden.

Host Clay Travis noted, however, that Mr. Christie had praised only six of his rivals against Mr. Ramaswamy’s broadside, ignoring his fellow governor, Mr. DeSantis. Had the Floridan been the lone “bought and paid for” candidate on stage?

“Well,” Mr. Christie said of Mr. DeSantis, “what I think is he’s rented. I think he’s rented by big-money interests in Florida. You don’t raise $83 million in Florida and have that happen and be transferred to your presidential account and then raise more money, more soft money.”

Mr. Christie alleged that Mr. DeSantis’s Never Back Down PAC had dictated his strategy for the debate. Referring to a leaked memo from the group, Mr. Christie said that Mr. DeSantis had delivered programmed soundbites from those memos at the debate, not his own thoughts.

“That memo was so effective,” Mr. Christie said, “that even Vivek was using the Never Back Down memo. So, that’s what makes me laugh about Vivek accusing everybody else” of being bought and paid for and scripted by big money.

“I think that Ron has a lot to answer for in terms of the conduct of his super PAC,” Mr. Christie said, “and the conduct of his own campaign and what appears to be very, very close coordination between the two — and that makes everybody a little bit squirrely.”

Although delivered inside a velvet glove, these were punches to Mr. DeSantis’s solar plexus. Federal election law forbids coordination between candidates and PACs, which were freed from limits on spending by the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision in 2010.  

So for the moment, the ball is in Mr. DeSantis’s court. As a frequent guest on the radio show where Mr. Christie made his accusations, Mr. DeSantis would find the door open should he wish to respond. The Sun sought a response from his campaign manager but hasn’t heard back as of our deadline.

Mr. Christie’s criticism could have repercussions were it to gain traction. Mr. DeSantis came into the race at the urging of many seeking an alternative to President Trump and money flowed to him from that faction’s donors.

Now, Mr. Christie’s moon is rising while Mr. DeSantis’s star is in eclipse. The former governor of New Jersey may see a chance to seize the mantle of the alternative to Mr. Trump, rejecting suggestions that he should drop out and throw his support to a consensus candidate.

“I’ve been in the race for two-and-a-half months,” Mr. Christie told Mr. Travis. “I’m now at 14 percent in New Hampshire. I’m ahead by five points of Ron DeSantis, who was the far-and-away front-running challenger when he got into this race. He’s now in fourth place in New Hampshire. So, I feel like we’ve made enormous progress.”