Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced Wednesday in New Hampshire the suspension of his long-shot 2024 presidential campaign, which was centered on his opposition to former President Donald Trump.
“It’s clear to me tonight that there isn’t a path for me to win the nomination,” Christie said, “which is why I’m suspending my campaign tonight for president of the United States.”
Christie focused his campaign on consolidating support in New Hampshire specifically, where he was able to enter double digits and reach third in the race behind former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Trump, the Republican front-runner.
In a new University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll, he posted 12%, while Haley posted 32% —within single digits of Trump’s 39%. Further, Christie and Haley’s combined total, 44%, was enough to surpass Trump. This was notable as pollsters pointed out Christie voters are likely to break for Haley.
Christie also garnered 12% in a separate USA Today/Boston Globe/Suffolk University poll this week. However, the margins between Haley and Trump looked different. This survey showed Trump maintaining a healthy 20-point lead over Haley, 46% to 26%, which wouldn’t be overcome by adding Christie’s supporters.
Ahead of Christie’s town hall in which he announced the suspension of his bid, the former New Jersey governor could be heard on a live audio feed saying that she’s “going to get smoked” and that she is “not up to this,” in an apparent reference to Haley.
The former New Jersey governor routinely criticized his primary opponents for not going after Trump enough. “I am the only candidate running against Donald Trump. Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis seem to be running against each other for second place. Good for them,” he said last year.
Following Haley’s endorsement from popular Gov. Chris Sununu (R-NH) last month, along with her growing coalition in the first in the nation primary state, Christie faced significant pressure to suspend his bid.
Sununu, who had once joined Christie on the campaign trail and considered endorsing him, began encouraging him to drop out last month. “He knows his voters who want to see Trump defeated are all coming over to Nikki Haley,” the New Hampshire governor said at the time.
“In fact, the only person who wants Chris Christie to stay in the race is Donald Trump — think about the irony of that,” he added, urging Christie not to put “ego” first.
Christie, however, wasn’t willing to go down without a fight. He criticized Haley and the calls for him to end his campaign as recently as Tuesday, voicing skepticism about the former U.N. ambassador’s ambitions. “I would be happy to get out of the way for someone who is actually running against Donald Trump,” he said.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“Let’s say I dropped out of the race right now and I supported Nikki Haley. And then three months from now, four months from now, when you’re ready to go to the convention, she comes out as his vice president. What will I look like? What will all the people who supported her at my behest look like?” he asked New Hampshire voters during an event.
The super PAC supporting Haley joined efforts to get Christie to end his campaign on Tuesday, with Stand for America Fund, Inc. spokeswoman Brittany Yanick saying in a statement, “It’s time for voters to tell Christie what we all know, which is that his campaign isn’t stopping anyone and frankly, it’s helping Trump, whom he proudly endorsed in 2016 and supposedly opposes in 2024.”