To hurt Trump’s chances
Republican Christie drops out of presidential race
January 11, 2024, 12:42 a.m
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In the Republican primary campaign, the field of candidates is becoming narrower: Chris Christie, another Trump challenger, is withdrawing his presidential candidacy. The former governor of New Jersey is one of the few sharp critics Trump has in the party.
US Republican Chris Christie is dropping out of the race for the White House. The former governor of the US state of New Jersey announced on Wednesday evening (local time) during an appearance in the state of New Hampshire that he would no longer pursue his presidential bid.
Christie said he realized “there was no way for me to win the nomination.” And he definitely doesn’t want to contribute to former US President Donald Trump becoming president again. Christie was referring to the fact that he did not want to capture potential votes for other party members and thus possibly minimize their chances against Trump.
Trump wants to move into the White House again for the Republicans. In the Republican field of candidates, he is far ahead in polls, ahead of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley. As things stand, the race is between these three opponents. Christie, on the other hand, hardly played a role in polls. Other remaining candidates also rank in the single digits.
It was Christie’s second attempt
Christie’s exit from the race comes just days before the start of the Republican primary, which will determine the party’s presidential candidate. The first vote on this will take place next week in the state of Iowa. The actual presidential election will take place on November 5th. In recent weeks, other Republican presidential candidates have already withdrawn from the election campaign, including former Vice President Mike Pence.
Christie had already wanted to become his party’s presidential candidate in 2016, but withdrew after poor results in the primaries. The 61-year-old is a former confidant of Trump, but has now turned away from the ex-president and is one of his toughest critics. Christie had always attacked Trump harshly in the past weeks of the election campaign – unlike his other competitors in the race. On Wednesday, Christie again accused his party colleagues of being too cowardly to attack Trump head-on. And he once again warned urgently against another Trump term.