Chris Christie Suspends 2024 Presidential Campaign Days Before Iowa Caucus
The former New Jersey governor hoped to unite never-Trumpers looking for a bold new face of the GOP. But his bid for the Republican nomination failed to pick up steam
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie suspended his 2024 presidential campaign on Wednesday, just ahead of Monday's Iowa caucus.
Christie, who entered the race in June, told supporters at a New Hampshire town hall it was "clear to me tonight that there isn’t a path for me to win the nomination, which is why I’m suspending my campaign tonight for president of the United States."
Although Christie did not endorse another candidate, he told supporters he was "going to make sure that in no way do I enable Donald Trump to ever be president of the United States again. And that’s more important than my own personal ambition."
The 61-year-old Republican was one of the few presidential contenders in his party to go after Donald Trump, who currently leads in GOP polls. Once a close ally of the former president, Christie turned into a critic of Trump near the end of his term in the White House, particularly following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
In the 2024 Republican primary race Christie hoped to prove that he was the only candidate capable of handling Trump's attacks and fighting back. But when Trump later refused to participate in primary debates, it foiled Christie's plan to go head-to-head on live TV.
Related: Chris Christie Enters 2024 Presidential Race with Pledge to Fight Back Against Trump
In a December debate, Christie lashed out at Trump, saying of the former president, “There’s no mystery to what he wants to do. He started off his campaign by saying, ‘I am your retribution.’ Eight years ago, he said, ‘I am your voice.'"
Christie continued: “This is an angry, bitter man who now wants to be back as president because he wants to exact retribution on anyone who has disagreed with him, anyone who’s tried to hold him to account for his own conduct, and every one of these policies that he’s talking about are about pursuing a plan of retribution."
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Speaking to PEOPLE in a 2021 interview, Christie opened up about his time in the Trump White House and his frustration with the former president's focus on election conspiracy theories.
"Someone needed to stand up and say, 'Look, we need to get real and we need to start getting the job done because if we don't, we won't have a role in this country moving forward,'" Christie said.
He continued: "I don't think people want to hear that any longer. I think people want a new day. There is a pathway to it. Hopefully the combination of those election results and the book coming out ... will give people a lot of encouragement that there is a new path for the Republican Party."
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