Former Recent Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced he’s running for president, injecting a dose of anti-Trump criticism right into a Republican primary field that has largely been reluctant to cross its leading candidate.
Speaking with no script at a town hall event in Manchester, Recent Hampshire, Christie called out the previous president by name as he spoke at length about what he saw as a crisis of leadership at a critical moment in American history.
“A lonely, self-consumed, self-serving mirror hog will not be a pacesetter,” Christie said.
“The person I’m talking about who’s obsessive about the mirror, who never admits a mistake, who never admits a fault,” Christie then clarified, “is Donald Trump.”
Christie also appeared to acknowledge that he is taken into account a protracted shot within the Republican primary, where Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are the clear front-runners.
“I’ll say to you tonight that I am unable to guarantee you success in what I’m about to do. But I guarantee you that by the tip of it you’ll need little question in your mind who I’m and what I stand for and whether I deserve it,” Christie said.
“I intend to hunt the Republican nomination for president of america in 2024, and I would like your support,” he said.
Christie, 60, announced his campaign in the identical state where his last presidential bid had come undone.
Christie placed sixth in that state’s 2016 primary and dropped out of the race shortly thereafter. In a surprising move, Christie endorsed then-candidate Donald Trump just days later. He went on to assist prep Trump for his debate against now-President Joe Biden within the 2020 contest.
But his support for Trump dried up soon after, as the previous president, following his loss to Biden, fed his supporters a firehose of conspiracy theories and false claims of widespread voter fraud while pushing to overturn his defeat.
Like many Republicans, Christie criticized Trump after a violent mob of the then-president’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, derailing the peaceful transfer of power to Biden. But while much of the GOP establishment softened its stance on Trump in the following months, Christie kept up his criticism.
“I believe he’s a coward and I believe he’s a puppet of [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” Christie said last month in response to Trump’s comments concerning the Ukraine war during a CNN town hall.
Christie, whose aggressive takedown of Sen. Marco Rubio in a 2016 Republican debate was a highlight of his campaign, has stressed the necessity for Trump’s current challengers to forcefully confront him on the controversy stage.
“You higher have any individual on that stage who will do to him what I did to Marco, because that is the only thing that is going to defeat Donald Trump,” Christie said in March.
“It is not going to finish nicely regardless of what,” the previous governor said of Trump. “His end won’t be a relaxed and quiet conclusion.”
Christie has suggested in recent months that he would not run unless he sees a feasible path to victory. To many political watchers, that path stays unclear.
Polls of the potential primary race show Christie garnering little support from Republican voters. A recent Monmouth University survey found Christie was the one declared or potential GOP candidate to receive a net negative favorability rating, 21% to 47%, from Republican voters.
Christie’s announcement comes lower than two weeks after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis officially joined the Republican primary race, becoming the highest non-Trump contender. South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott entered the first that very same week. Former Vice President Mike Pence is anticipated to affix the fray on Wednesday.
Allies of the previous Recent Jersey governor recently launched an excellent PAC, Tell It Like It Is, to support his run for president.
Christie was elected governor of the historically blue state in 2009 and served for 2 terms, the utmost allowed under term limit rules.
He gained national attention in 2012 for his response to Superstorm Sandy, which battered his state and caused billions of dollars in damage. Christie’s vocal praise for then-President Barack Obama’s support amid the crisis angered a few of his fellow Republicans, however the governor’s polling numbers surged within the wake of the storm.
Those high approval rankings would crater by the tip of Christie’s second term, which was marred by his connection to the 2013 “Bridgegate” scandal.
In September of that 12 months, commuter lanes were shut down on the George Washington Bridge connecting Recent Jersey and Recent York for several days in retaliation against a mayor who refused to back Christie’s reelection bid. The lane closures caused massive traffic jams.
The Supreme Court in 2020 reversed fraud convictions against two of Christie’s aides who had played key roles within the scandal.
Christie was succeeded by Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, who won a second term in 2021. Christie joined ABC News in 2018 as a political contributor. In 2020, he was hospitalized with a severe case of Covid-19 that he said put him in an ICU for per week.