Chris Christie, ex-governor and Trump critic, seeks US presidency
Former New Jersey governor joins growing list of candidates for the 2024 Republican nomination for the White House.
Washington, D.C. – Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, an outspoken Republican critic of former President Donald Trump, has joined a crowded field of candidates seeking the 2024 U.S. presidency.
Christie filed paperwork with US election authorities on Tuesday, formalizing his candidacy, and is expected to launch his campaign at an event in New Hampshire later today.
Often portrayed as a pragmatic conservative who ran a democratic state between 2010 and 2018, Christie first ran for president in 2016 but dropped out early after a wavering campaign. Recent polls show that he only attracts 1-2 percent of primary voters, making his latest bid a gamble as well.
The former governor has been an outspoken critic of Trump, who is also seeking the White House in 2024.
But he was once a close ally of the former president, endorsing Trump in the 2016 Republican primary after ending his own bid for the presidency that year.
Christie turned on Trump after the former president tried to overturn the 2020 election results. Trump’s oft-repeated claims of “rigged” elections helped fuel an attack on the U.S. Capitol, where his supporters sought to prevent the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory.
“We keep losing and losing and losing,” Christie said of the Republicans last year after the party’s disappointing performance in the midterm elections.
“And the fact is, the reason we’re losing is because Donald Trump has put himself above everyone else.”
Christie stepped up his attacks on Trump as he prepared to enter the 2024 race, going so far as to call him the “puppet” of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He has also criticized fellow Republican nominee and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis along with Trump for their skepticism about US support for Ukraine as it faces a full-scale Russian invasion.
Christie rose to prominence as a New Jersey federal prosecutor, overseeing several high-profile cases. He was later elected governor in 2009 and easily won re-election four years later.
But his presidential aspirations and political stature took a hit the following year. In early 2014, text messages went public suggesting that Christie’s allies had closed lanes on a busy bridge to New York City to cause traffic jams as punishment for a New Jersey mayor who refused to support the then-governor.
Christie insisted had no knowledge of the scheme. Two officials associated with the governor would eventually be sentenced to prison over the scandal, which became known as “Bridgegate”.
Now he is making a political comeback with Trump in his sights.
The race for the Republican nomination is still largely seen as a two-horse race between the former president and DeSantis. But with the first primaries months away and Trump facing legal troubles — including criminal charges in New York — outside candidates like Christie will hope to gain popularity heading into 2024.
Other candidates in the Republican race include former Vice President Mike Pence, Senator Tim Scott, ex-US envoy to the United Nations Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
The winner of the Republican nomination will likely run against Biden, who is seeking re-election, in the November 2024 general election.