 | |
| Campaign | 2024 Republican primaries 2024 U.S. presidential election |
|---|---|
| Candidate | Chris Christie 55thGovernor of New Jersey(2010–2018) |
| Affiliation | Republican Party |
| Status | Announced: June 6, 2023 Suspended: January 10, 2024 |
| Headquarters | Jersey City, New Jersey |
| Slogan | Because the truth matters[1] |
| Website | |
| chrischristie | |
_(cropped).jpg)
The2024 presidential campaign of Chris Christie, the formergovernor of New Jersey, was formally launched on June 6, 2023, at an event inManchester, New Hampshire. He was seeking theRepublican Party nomination in its2024 presidential primaries.[2] He withdrew from the race on January 10, 2024.[3]
Christie served asU.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey from January 2002 to December 2008 during the presidency ofGeorge W. Bush. In2009, Christie was elected governor of New Jersey, defeating incumbent Democratic governorJon Corzine. He was reelected by a wide margin in2013, defeating State Senate Majority LeaderBarbara Buono. On June 30, 2015, he announcedhis campaign for the Republican nomination for president in the2016 Republican primaries. He dropped out of the race on February 10, 2016, after a poor showing in theNew Hampshire primary,[4] and endorsed eventual winnerDonald Trump.[5] He left office as governor of New Jersey in 2018 and was succeeded by DemocratPhil Murphy.[6]
Christie was an ally of Trump during most ofhis presidency, but he refused to supportclaims of voter fraud after the2020 presidential election because Trump could not provide him with any evidence.[7][8] During theJanuary 6 Capitol attack, Christie phoned Trump to attempt to persuade him to end the violence, but Trump did not pick up.[9] Thereafter, Christie distanced himself from Trump and voiced support forTrump's second impeachment.[10]
In a December 2020 interview with radio talk show hostHugh Hewitt, Christie said he wouldn't "rule out" a presidential run in the2024 presidential election.[11] In October 2022, Christie appeared onReal Time with Bill Maher, where he responded "sure" when asked if he was open to a potential 2024 presidential bid.[12] In April 2023, Christie criticized Florida governorRon DeSantis's feudwith The Walt Disney Company, claiming it showed a lack of conservative values.[13] On May 31, 2023,Axios reported that Christie was expected to announce his candidacy the following week on June 6[14] after his allies formed asuper PAC ahead of the bid.[15]
On June 6, 2023, Christie filed with theFederal Election Commission (FEC) to enter the race, and announced his presidential bid later that day inManchester, New Hampshire.[16][17] During his announcement, which was also in the format of a forum, Christie heavily criticized Trump for both his actions as president and his numerous indictments.[18] Christie's campaign was supported by the Tell It Like It Is Super PAC.[19] On June 12, 2023, Christie held a town hall meeting hosted byAnderson Cooper atCNN. When asked how he differed from other Republican candidates, Christie responded, "I governed in ablue state, and made things happen".[20] Despite other Republican presidential candidates vowing to removeChristopher Wray asdirector of the FBI, when asked, Christie said he would have kept him if elected president.[20]
.jpg)
On July 12, Christie announced that his campaign had met the donor requirement to participate in the August primary debate.[21] In order to participate in that debate, Christie was required to sign a loyalty pledge from theRepublican National Committee stating he would support the eventual nominee. Christie has criticized the pledge, calling it a "useless idea," but nevertheless signed the pledge in order to debate.[22]
On August 4, 2023, Christie made an unannounced trip to Ukraine, visiting the city ofBucha, the site of amassacre of civilians by Russian forces.[23] Later in the day, Christie met with Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy, praising Ukraine's fight against Russia and reiterating his support for arming Ukraine. According to Christie, he and Zelenskyy did not discuss the U.S. presidential race. Christie was the second Republican presidential candidate, followingMike Pence, to visit Ukraine.[24]
On October 3, Christie and opponentVivek Ramaswamy were due to debate in a segment onSpecial Report with Bret Baier onFox News. However, the Republican National Committee (RNC) contacted Baier and threatened to ban Christie and Ramaswamy from attending future primary debates if they were to debate on Baier's show.[25] Christie has regarded the RNC's statements as a "cause for concern".[26]
Christie officially filed in theNew Hampshire Republican primary in Concord on October 19, 2023.[27]
On November 13, 2023,National Review called on Christie, alongsideDoug Burgum, to drop out of the race citing the end of theMike Pence andTim Scott campaigns. TheNational Review argued that Christie is not running to actually win the election, but rather to build name-recognition and that his opposition to Trump is halfhearted due to his endorsement of Trump in 2016.[28] In a response, Christie said he did not care where he was in national polling by explaining that there is no national primary and touting his good showing in New Hampshire polling.[29]
Following his announcement that he would campaign until at least theMichigan primary of February 27,New York outlined Christie as a "bitter end" candidate, comparing him toRon Paul's 2012 campaign, stating that there was no chance the Republican establishment would ever flip to his side but he would continue his race out of a perceived moral obligation.New York went on to state that:[30]
"Chris Christie’s path to the 2024 Republican presidential nomination will never be more viable than it was the day he announced his candidacy. So while there’s not much point in him continuing his candidacy today or tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, he really does have nothing to lose by sticking around."
On December 2, 2023, the deadline to submit the 2,000 signatures required to appear as a candidate on the ballot in Maine passed and Christie, alongside Asa Hutchinson, failed to submit the required signatures. TheSecretary of State of Maine reported that Christie's campaign only submitted 844 signatures, however, Christie disputed this, stating he submitted over 6,000.[31][32]
Christie withdrew from the race on January 10, 2024, stating that "[i]t’s clear to me tonight that there isn’t a path for me to win the nomination".[33]
Unlike many other candidates in the 2024 Republican primaries, Christie focused most of his campaign on attacking Trump. He pledged to not support Trump if he became the nominee.
Guys from New Jersey are used to dealing with obnoxious blowhards fromNew York.[34]
In his June 6 announcement, Christie described Trump as a "lonely, self-consumed, self-serving mirror hog."[35][36] He has blamed Trump for the Republican under-performance in the2022 midterm elections because candidates who were endorsed by Trump evidently lost their elections.[37] In an interview onCNN, Christie described thefederal prosecution of Trump as "very, very evidence-filled", and described Trump'shandling of government documents as "bad" and "irresponsible".[38] At the same time, Christie criticized other Republican candidates for defending Trump.[36][39] Christie has also said that if he was elected president, he "can't imagine"pardoning Trump, something most other candidates have pledged to do.[40]
When referring to the loyalty pledge to participate in the August debate, Christie said he would take it "...as seriously asDonald Trump did…" during the2016 Republican primaries.[41] Censured former GOPRepresentativeAdam Kinzinger, who himself had denounced Trump followingJanuary 6, predicted Trump had skipped the first debate because he was "scared to death" of Christie.[42] Kinzinger's PAC, Country First, also sent out emails encouraging donors to give to Christie's campaign in an effort to get him on the debate stage in August.[43] The PAC also directly donated to Christie's campaign.[44]
Shortly before he dropped out of the race on January 10, 2024, Christie was caught on ahot mic, criticizing bothNikki Haley andRon DeSantis, who were set todebate later that evening. Christie was heard predicting Haley was "gonna get smoked" in the race againstDonald Trump in New Hampshire, despite polls showing single digit margins between Trump and Haley.[45] Shortly after the comments emerged, DeSantis posted onX, "I agree with Christie that Nikki Haley is 'going to get smoked.'"[46]
ANew Jersey Republican, Christie is considered to be amoderate conservative.[47]
In his early political career, Christie opposedsame sex marriage and vetoed several bills that would have legalized it in New Jersey while he was governor.[48] His stance on same sex marriage has evolved over time;[49] in 2013 he voiced support for New Jersey'scivil union law, which extended to gay couples the same legal benefits of marriage with regard to state law;[50] and in 2022 he said he "respects same-sex marriage and considers it legally settled."[51]
As governor, he refused tolegalize marijuana in New Jersey,[52] although his successor,Phil Murphy, legalized marijuana for New Jersey adults in 2021.[53] Christie has said he supports certaingun control measures and accepts thescientific consensus on climate change.[54][55]
Christie consistently polled between one percent and six percent throughout his campaign.[56] He dismissed the polls and stated that higher numbers do not necessarily indicate a primary victory.[57]
In the months leading up to his announcement, various media outlets viewed Christie as a likely contender in the Republican primaries, but pre-election polling showed him polling far behind Trump, who had announced hisfourth presidential campaign in November 2022.[58]
In an August 7 poll by NH Journal, Christie tied for second place withRon DeSantis in the primary state ofNew Hampshire with both at nine percent.[59] An August 17 poll by FiveThirtyEight placed Christie at second place in New Hampshire with 14 percent, only behind Donald Trump, who polled at 34 percent.[60] Christie focused on New Hampshire and hoped to defeat Trump there.[61] When interviewed byChris Cuomo on September 14, Christie pledged that, if he did not end up "top 4" in the New Hampshire primary, he would drop out of the race.[62]
Christie saw a surge of support among Democratic voters after announcing his candidacy.[63] In aNew York Times/Siena College poll in September 2023, 24 percent of Democratic or Democratic leaning voters said they would likely vote for Christie if he became the Republican nominee.[64]
Christie was named amongTime magazine's100 most influential people in the world in 2011 and 2013.[65][66][relevant?]
Approval ratings during Christie's tenure as governor ranged from a record high to a record low.[67] FollowingHurricane Sandy and his response to it, various polls indicated his approval rating was near 80 percent.[68][69] It remained above 60 percent until January 2014[70][71][72] and above 50 percent until August 2014.[73][74][75] Christie finished his second term as governor with an approval rating between 19 percent and 22 percent—the lowest for any governor at that time.[67][76][77] In a poll conducted byMonmouth University in late April and early May 2021—three years after Christie left office—64 percent of New Jersey residents viewed Christie unfavorably, while 26 percent viewed him favorably, showing only a slight improvement since he left office.[77] Of those questioned, 19 percent said that he would make a good president, while 59 percent said that he would not.[77]
