Photo: AP

In an appearance Monday at Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport in Vienna, Ohio, Donald Trump, in the course of criticizing John Kasich for abandoning his duties as governor in order to campaign for president also took a swipe at his friend and hostage Chris Christie for the very same thing.

Trump specifically criticized Kasich for his efforts in New Hampshire. “Where’s Chris? Is Chris around? Even more than Chris Christie he was there,” Trump said of Kasich. “I hated to do that, but I had to make my point,” he said to Christie.

[There was a video here]

The New Jersey governor skipped the funeral of a New Jersey State Trooper to campaign with Trump on Monday. (This is the third police funeral he’s missed since December.) Earlier in the day, the two participated in a farcical interview in North Carolina, in which Christie asked Trump soft-ball questions and looked on approvingly as Trump encouraged security staffers to eject protesters.

“It was surreal. Trump is sitting there goading the crowd, Christie is next to him nodding his head,” Matt Katz, who covers the New Jersey governor for WNYC, said today. “But he was also looking uncomfortable. To see Christie appear publicly in front of a crowd with Trump, at this moment, takes Christie’s endorsement much further. The governor is now putting his face on the Trump campaign, warts and all.”

Later, Sarah Palin joined the pair for an event in Tampa. There, Christie recounted his experience as U.S. attorney for the state of New Jersey. “I’m convinced that’s exactly the kind of attorney general Donald Trump is going to appoint,” the governor said. He’d better hope so.

Update – 1:12 am

Contact the author at brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.