Chris Christie predicts 2024 field ‘will narrow more’ following Mike Pence exit

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie predicted Sunday the 2024 presidential field will narrow even more following former Vice President Mike Pence‘s suspension of his campaign.

After Pence’s unexpected announcement of his campaign’s end at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual conference Saturday, Christie told CNN’s Jake Tapper, “I think he made the right decision for he and his family to get out of the race. And in the end, it just means this race is narrowing, which everyone said that it would.”

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“It is narrowing. It will narrow more, I suspect, when we get to the debate stage in Miami,” he added.

The third Republican debate will take place in just over one week on Nov. 8. Former President Donald Trump, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), Vivek Ramaswamy, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), and Christie have reportedly qualified to be on the debate stage. Despite being eligible to debate, Trump is expected to miss the event, as he did the first two.

“I think the field will consolidate, Jake, but it’s not my place to tell people when to get out,” Christie further told Tapper.

Justifying his own remaining in the race, he emphasized his willingness to attack Trump early on. “There’s other people who want to have it both ways. They want to support him and raise their hands, even if he’s a convicted felon. On the other hand, they want to go after him, and every time they say, you know, one little criticism, the national media gets all crazy,” he said.

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Christie indicated his plan to stay in the race through the New Hampshire primary, saying, “I’m going to be ready to take on Donald Trump when people actually do start to vote.”

Trump has only expanded his lead over his GOP competitors in the months leading up to the first in the nation Republican caucuses in Iowa. As the former president remains dominant, candidates Haley and DeSantis have embarked on a bitter mudslinging battle to become the candidate whom non-Trump supporting Republicans coalesce behind.