New Jersey ex-Gov. Chris Christie is doing his part to make sure Ukraine can take heart from more than living on a prayer.
During an unannounced visit to the war-torn nation Friday, Christie gifted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky handwritten lyrics to the Bon Jovi hit “It’s My Life” from the famed signer himself.
“[The song] served as an inspiration for a lot of the citizens in Odessa, as they were preparing for the invasion by the Russians,” Christie told CNN’s”State of the Union” Sunday.
“[Bon Jovi] wrote it out in his own hand, got it framed, and I brought it to President Zelensky … and said that this is representative of many of the American people and what they feel about the cause that’s being fought for in Ukraine.”
Christie became the second current 2024 GOP presidential contender to visit Ukraine, following former Vice President Mike Pence, who did so in June.
On the Democrat side, President Biden also swung through the besieged nation in February to mark the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion.
In the Sunday interview, the Garden State native recounted some of the horrific brutality he observed during his trip to Ukraine, which he billed as a fact-finding mission.
Christie has long defended US support of Ukraine — including to conservative grumblings.
He said he wants the American people to “know about the atrocities that were being and are being committed against the free Ukrainian people.”
“I went to the town of Bucha where I went to a shallow grave of 160 civilians who were executed by the Russian army,” Christie recounted. “But before they were executed, for many of them, their eyes were gouged out. Their ears were cut off.”
“Then their hands were tied behind their back and they were shot in the back of the head by Russian soldiers. Civilians. Not soldiers, civilians,” Christie stressed. “Then Russian soldiers went in and raped the mothers and the daughters that were in the house after the men of the house had been killed.”
He also took note of how Ukraine has been heavily outgunned by its Russian neighbors, including by a “nearly 11 to one” ratio in artillery.
In familiar Christie style, the ex-governor also zinged former President Donald Trump for describing Russian President Vladimir Putin as brilliant and an excellent leader.
“That’s the kind of thing that Donald Trump will bring back to the presidency,” Christie warned.
The 60-year-old presidential hopeful has long been a diehard fan of New Jersey rock stars Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen.
“I love them both,” he previously told The Post when asked about which one was his favorite.
