TRENTON -- Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday defended Donald Trump's performance in his first presidential debate against Hillary Clinton -- and added the event's moderator, Lester Holt, to the list of people he's called an "idiot."

Some pundits said Trump, the Republican nominee, started off strong against Clinton, his Democratic opponent, in Monday's debate but stumbled in the end.

But on his monthly radio show Tuesday night, Christie -- one of Trump's top advisers -- said he doesn't believe the debate will "move many voters."

"I don't think anything distinctive happened," the governor said on New Jersey 101.5-FM. "There was no big mistake or gaffe."

Christie aded that "under the circumstances," Trump "did well" and "will do better" in the next two debates.

"He learns from previous mistakes and does better," Christie said of the celebrity businessman and former Atlantic City casino mogul.

But Christie had sharp words for Holt, the host of NBC's "Nightly News," who challenged Trump a few times Monday -- including over the candidate's praise for the controversial "stop-and-frisk police tactic."

Trump has said he'd be open to using the program -- which has drawn controversy for its use in New York City and Newark -- in other American cities. He added that it "worked very well in New York, despite claims that police were profiling minorities.

"You take the gun away from criminals that shouldn't be having it," Trump said.

But Holt noted that a federal judge deemed the "stop-and-frisk" policy unconstitutional in 2013 because it targeted blacks and Hispanics.

"No, you're wrong," Trump replied.. "It went before a judge, who was a very against-police judge. It was taken away from her. And our mayor, our new mayor, refused to go forward with the case. They would have won an appeal. If you look at it, throughout the country, there are many places where it's allowed."

Christie said Tuesday that Holt was "out of bounds."

"He was wrong on stop-and-frisk," the governor said.

Christie correctly noted that Mayor Michael Bloomberg appealed the ruling, and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals suspended the order, sending it back to a new judge to be tried again. But new Mayor Bill de Blasio announced he would not pursue the appeal, but would instead to institute reforms.

"Lester Holt says it's unconstitutional," Christie said. "You're an idiot."

The governor, a former federal prosecutor, said the 2013 ruling did not deem stop-and-frisk to be unconstitutional across the country, only that Bloomberg's administration "applied it unconstitutionally" in New York.

"Nobody tuned in to hear what Lester Holt had to say," Christie added. "Nobody wants Lester Holt to be a fact-checker."

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.