Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie suggested he is now open to running as a third-party candidate this November.
Christie appeared on the podcast the Axe Files in an episode that aired Thursday. The interview came over two months after Christie dropped out of the running for the Republican presidential nomination. In February, Christie denied he was considering leaving the Republican Party, saying he “will never stop fighting to change” it.
However, now the former governor suggested he is open to running with the No Labels party when host David Axelrod asked him about it.
“You know, I think the way I would look at it is, I will do whatever I can to try to make sure that the country doesn’t go through what I think will be the misery of a second Trump term,” Christie said. “But I wouldn’t preclude anything at this point, David. I would just say that there are a number of hurdles to get over before I would actually consider running as a third party.”
No Labels has yet to present a candidate after its honorary chairman, former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, teased his own campaign last year. Now Hogan is running for the open U.S. Senate seat in Maryland, leaving the door open for another candidate to run as the party’s presidential nominee.
Since dropping out of the Republican Party’s presidential race, Christie, along with former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and former Vice President Mike Pence, have not yet issued an endorsement. Haley has dismissed any rumor that she would run as a No Labels candidate.
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Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump, the presumptive GOP nominee, has the endorsement of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), Vivek Ramaswamy, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC). All of these candidates agreed to support the Republican nominee when they participated in Republican National Committee debates.
Despite Christie’s initial endorsement and support of Trump in 2016, he has become a vocal opponent of the former president.