He needed a knockout punch last night to stay viable. He didn't get one.

But he did, as usual, lie shamelessly. Marcy Wheeler caught the first one:

KELLY: Alright, gentlemen, we’re gonna switch topics now and talk a bit about terror and national security.

Governor Christie. You’ve said that Senator Paul’s opposition to the NSA’s collection of phone records has made the United States weaker and more vulnerable, even going so far as to say that he should be called before Congress to answer for it if we should be hit by another terrorist attack.

Do you really believe you can assign blame to Senator Paul just for opposing he bulk collection of people’s phone records in the event of a terrorist attack?

CHRISTIE: Yes, I do. And I’ll tell you why: because I’m the only person on this stage who’s actually filed applications under the Patriot Act, who has gone before the federal — the Foreign Intelligence Service court, who has prosecuted and investigated and jailed terrorists in this country after September 11th.

I was appointed U.S. attorney by President Bush on September 10th, 2001, and the world changed enormously the next day, and that happened in my state.

Chris Christie was in private practice until after December 7, 2001, when he was nominated. http://t.co/1C16F13uUP

— emptywheel (@emptywheel) August 7, 2015

And then there was this one:

CHRISTIE: Yeah, sure. And, I don’t disagree with ending Congress’ retirement program. I’m a governor, I don’t have a retirement program in my state, and I don’t disagree with that. But, here’s the news to the American people, he’s complaining about the lying and stealing. The lying and stealing has already occurred. The trust fund is filled with IOU’s. We can’t fix the problem just by ending (ph) Congress’ retirement, that’s worth about, “this” much.

Did Christie just say he doesn't have a retirement program as NJ governor? pic.twitter.com/xJzKvPwESk

— Andrew Perez (@andrewperezdc) August 7, 2015