Former New Jersey Governor and past presidential candidate, Chris Christie, is preparing to declare his candidacy for the 2024 White House race in New Hampshire. He is scheduled to make the announcement on Tuesday, June 6, following the establishment of a Christie super PAC. Supporters, including his close friends, have rallied behind him and initiated Christie support groups, as well as a dedicated website in his favor. Despite being aware of the challenges that lie ahead, Christie remains undeterred, showing resilience despite his previous loss in the 2016 presidential campaign to Donald Trump. He is ready to participate in potential debates, including those involving Donald Trump.
On Tuesday, in Manchester, New Hampshire, Christie is poised to announce his bid for the 2024 presidential campaign. This marks his second endeavor to secure the Republican nomination, following his sixth-place finish in the 2016 New Hampshire primary. Although Christie had previously endorsed Donald Trump in 2016, he has since emerged as a vocal critic of the former president. Despite facing low favorability ratings among Republicans, Christie intends to challenge Trump and other potential contenders for the GOP nomination in 2024. This second attempt at the Republican presidential nomination comes after Christie’s less successful sixth-place finish in the 2016 New Hampshire primary.
According to NBC News:
Christie and Trump became allies, with the former New Jersey governor heading up Trump’s presidential transition team and later preparing him for debates against Joe Biden in 2020.
But Christie has emerged as a vocal critic of Trump, who remains the Republican front-runner in the polls, after the then-president refused to concede his loss to Biden in 2020 and pushed baseless claims of widespread election fraud.
Christie has continued criticizing Trump, especially in his role as a political contributor on ABC News. During a segment on “This Week” earlier this month, Christie argued GOP candidates can’t beat Trump by “cozying up to him.”
During a town hall in Manchester in March, Christie took a voter’s question about why he failed to take on Trump in 2016. In response, Christie noted that he and the rest of the field made a “strategic error” in underestimating Trump, whose lack of policy knowledge was apparent, and believed each of them had a chance to winnow the field into a potential one-on-one match up with him, but “none of us ever got there.”
A poll by Monmouth University this week shows that Christie’s favorability rating among Republicans is quite poor. Registered voters who identify with or lean toward the GOP found that just 21% have a favorable view of Christie, while 47% view him unfavorably, 24% say they have no opinion of him, and 8% say they haven’t heard enough about him.
While they were previously aligned, Christie has become a prominent detractor of Trump, specifically criticizing his refusal to acknowledge the outcome of the 2020 election and his dissemination of unfounded allegations. Christie’s objections have even reached his position as a political commentator on left-wing ABC News. Despite encountering difficulties in garnering favorable ratings among Republicans, Christie remains determined in his intention to challenge Trump and other candidates vying for the GOP nomination in 2024. However, he faces an uphill battle, and is considered a long shot in the presidential race. Christie has experienced a decline in relevance since his tenure as Governor of New Jersey and his 2016 presidential candidacy.
