Chris Christie is predicted to announce he’s suspending his 2024 presidential marketing campaign Wednesday night time in one more signal that Republican resistance to front-runner Donald Trump is melting away as the previous president barrels towards his get together’s nomination for a second time period within the White House, based on The Associated Press and Bloomberg.
The former New Jersey governor had been a long-shot candidate within the Republican main, struggling to interrupt above single digits in polls of the competition whereas trying to undermine Trump’s stronghold on the GOP. He confronted stress to finish his marketing campaign and endorse former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley in a bid to spice up her probabilities of profitable the Jan. 23 New Hampshire main, the place Trump leads in polls.
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Christie formally launched his bid in June 2023, calling Trump “a bitter, angry man” who ought to be disqualified from the presidency. He issued dire warnings to his get together a couple of second Trump presidency. The former president, Christie stated, is a “dictator” and a “bully.” He unfold his message on the talk stage and at conservative, Trump-friendly enclaves ― and was booed for it.
The former governor didn’t spare his fellow 2024 rivals from criticism, both. He known as them bootlickers and questioned their unwillingness to criticize Trump.
“There’s only one candidate trying to stop Trump,” a Christie marketing campaign advert stated in December. “Chris Christie is the only one who can beat Trump, because he’s the only one trying to beat Trump.”
At one GOP main debate, Christie known as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis “afraid” for not answering whether or not he believed Trump was mentally match to be president. “Is he fit or isn’t he?” Christie requested as DeSantis evaded the query.
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He additionally didn’t maintain again towards Haley when she failed to say slavery as a explanation for the Civil War, accusing her of being “unwilling to offend anyone by telling the truth” and auditioning for being chosen as Trump’s vice presidential nominee.
“What’s going to happen when she has to stand up against forces in our own party who want to drag this country deeper and deeper into anger and division and exhaustion?” Christie requested just lately.
Christie’s transformation from Trump’s longtime buddy to a thorn in his facet is considerably head-spinning. The former governor was one of many first big-name Republicans to endorse Trump’s presidential marketing campaign in 2016, giving him helpful legitimacy. He went on to function Trump’s transition chairman and even defended him when he turned president.
Not lengthy after the violent assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, nonetheless, Christie shifted course, sharpening his criticism of Trump and his lies about profitable the 2020 presidential election.
“I think everything that he was saying from election night forward incited people to that level of anger,” Christie advised CNN in regards to the Capitol riot, making it clear he held Trump immediately accountable.
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Trump, in the meantime, responded to Christie’s criticisms by hurling ugly assaults about his weight.
Christie appeared immune to the thought of dropping out and endorsing Haley at a current marketing campaign occasion in New Hampshire.
“I would be happy to get out of the way for someone who is actually running against Donald Trump,” Christie stated, based on The Associated Press.
“Let’s say I dropped out of the race right now and I supported Nikki Haley,” he added. “And then three months from now, four months from now, when you’re ready to go to the convention, she comes out as his vice president. What will I look like? What will all the people who supported her at my behest look like?”