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Chris Christie exits 2024 White House race with parting shot at Trump

Published

10 months ago

January 11, 2024

Chris Christie exits 2024 White House race with parting shot at Trump

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has dropped out of the presidential race with a parting shot at frontrunner Donald Trump.

“I’m going to guarantee that under no circumstances do I allow Donald Trump to ever be president of the USA once more,” the Trump ally-turned-critic mentioned.

The Republican had confronted strain to step apart and permit the social gathering to unify round a viable challenger to Mr Trump.

He didn’t endorse anybody as he bowed out of the race.

However on a scorching mic moments earlier than he introduced he was ending his bid, Mr Christie predicted that Nikki Haley, who has been gaining on Mr Trump in some polls, was “going to get smoked, and also you and I each understand it”.

“She’s lower than this,” he added. He additionally mentioned one other rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, was “petrified”.

Mr Christie, 61, who nationally has been polling within the low single figures, mentioned he was suspending his marketing campaign at a city corridor occasion within the US state of New Hampshire on Wednesday afternoon.

He devoted a lot of his remarks to a plea to Republican voters to reject the previous president, who he accused of “placing himself earlier than the folks of this nation”.

His departure comes 5 days earlier than the Iowa caucuses, the primary of the state-by-state contests during which Republican voters will decide their most well-liked candidate for president.

The eventual winner shall be anointed the Republican nominee in July, earlier than occurring to problem the Democratic nominee – possible Joe Biden – within the November basic election.

Mr Christie had been urged to drop out forward of the second contest this month in New Hampshire, the place some surveys point out Ms Haley may very well be catching up with Mr Trump.

The north-eastern state has a big faction of unaffiliated voters and has been identified to ship unpredictable outcomes. Mr Christie has been polling at 12% there and lots of of his supporters could now again Ms Haley.

In a press release, Ms Haley referred to as Mr Christie “a buddy for a few years” and recommended him “on a hard-fought marketing campaign”.

However her opponents had been fast to chime in on social media.

Mr DeSantis mentioned he agreed Ms Haley is “going to get smoked”.

Mr Trump mentioned he “would possibly even get to love [Mr Christie] once more” following his “very truthful assertion” about Ms Haley.

The previous president’s political motion committee mentioned in a press release that he had “already vanquished eight challengers earlier than a single vote has been forged as a result of Republican voters desire a robust chief who will reboot our economic system, safe our border, make America power impartial once more, and preserve our households protected”.

This was Mr Christie’s second unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination – he misplaced to Mr Trump in 2016.

Mr Christie had hoped to behave as an assault canine for a subject of Trump rivals who dared not cross the Republican base, which stays deeply loyal to the previous president.

The technique resulted in some zingers in the course of the major debates, however with out Mr Trump on stage, Mr Christie didn’t land any direct blows.

Matthew Bartlett, a Republican strategist based mostly in New Hampshire, mentioned Mr Christie had confronted as much as political actuality.

“Republican voters don’t wish to hear the identical assaults that they’ve heard from Democrats and even the media for the higher a part of eight years,”