Chris Christie hints at 2024 run

By 
 March 16, 2023

Chris Christie may enter the 2024 Republican primary soon, telling the Washington Examiner he will make a decision in the "next 45 to 60 days."

The former New Jersey governor, who now works as a talking head at ABC, previously ran for president in 2016 but failed to gain traction.

Besides Donald Trump, the only declared GOP candidates in the 2024 primary are U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley and anti-"woke" businessman Vivek Ramaswamy.

Trump has consistently led the pack in polling, with only Florida governor Ron DeSantis (R) being seen as a threat to the former president's path to the nomination.

Christie 2024?

Christie, a former Trump ally turned critic, said he thinks Republicans will lose the election with Trump leading the ticket.

"With Donald Trump at the top of the ticket, you can be sure of the fact that we'll have another four years of Joe Biden, and that to me is not acceptable for this country," he said.

Christie also had words of praise for ex-Maryland governor Larry Hogan, a prominent Trump critic who recently confirmed he isn't running, citing in part a fear that a large crowd of candidates would help Trump.

But Christie predicted the primary field will be "significantly smaller" compared to 2016, when Trump took the GOP establishment by storm.

"I have enormous respect for Gov. Hogan. He's my friend, and I have great respect for his decision," Christie said. "I think it'll be a significantly smaller field than it was in 2016. And I think that it would be good for us, given all the losing we've done over the last four years, to have a robust primary."

Breaking with "America First"

Trump's imprint on the party was made clear this week when Fox Host Tucker Carlson asked actual or potential primary candidates to clarify their views on U.S. involvement in Ukraine.

Most of the candidates echoed Trump and his "America First" isolationism, including DeSantis, who called the war in Ukraine a "territorial dispute."

While most Trump challengers are looking to emulate the former president in one way or another, it's likely Christie would follow a different path. He slammed "hopelessly naive" Republicans like DeSantis for failing to support Ukraine unequivocally.

"If America walks away from that leadership role in the world, believe me, that vacuum will be filled ... by the Chinese and the Russians," Christie added. "And that will not make it a safer or more secure world.  I think on this, Gov. DeSantis is either hopelessly naive or hopelessly cynical."

DeSantis is expected to enter the race soon, but Trump alleged in a complaint Thursday that the governor, who has been crisscrossing the nation on a book tour, is running an unlawful "shadow campaign" in violation of Florida's "resign to run" law.

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