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“Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Wednesday suspended his Republican presidential bid just days before Iowa’s leadoff caucuses, ceding to growing pressure to drop out of the race from those desperate to deny Donald Trump a glidepath to the nomination…
“Christie did not immediately endorse any of [his] rivals… He was overheard on a hot mic before the event began criticizing former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley. ‘She’s going to get smoked,’ he said in an audio broadcast on the campaign’s livestream feed. ‘She’s not up to this.’ He was also overheard saying Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis had called him, petrified, but the audio was cut before he finished the thought.” AP News
The right is divided about Christie.
“The first thing that strikes me about Christie's comments is how arrogant he is. He's run a terrible campaign that never made a blip nationally and only garnered about 10 percent in New Hampshire, which is pretty much the only place he campaigned. He's spent all of his time going after Donald Trump, insisting that's the only way to beat the former president, and in the end, he didn't even make it to Iowa…
“Christie is a guy who needs to step back and look in the mirror before criticizing others or pretending to know exactly how everything is going to turn out. Republicans do not like him, and there's a reason for that. Returning to Haley, I do think Christie leaving the race puts her in a very good position in New Hampshire. The latest polling there showed her down only single digits to Trump, and it's improbable that much of Christie's support would shift to the former president. Is she ‘gonna get smoked?’ Perhaps in the primary overall, but probably not in New Hampshire.”
Bonchie, RedState
“All I can say is wow! The assignment here was pretty simple. Drop out and graciously endorse Haley. Instead, Christie just told everyone he thinks she’s destined to fail because she’s not up to it. That’s a message which almost certainly will be picked up and used against Haley in the next Donald Trump ad or press release…
“No doubt Christie will also be asked what Gov. DeSantis was ‘petrified’ about. Was he about to say DeSantis was petrified Christie was endorsing Haley?… [The other question] is whether this was really an accident. Maybe it was or maybe Christie just wanted to go out by putting a knife in Haley’s back rather than handing her a lifeline.”
John Sexton, Hot Air
Some argue, “Mr. Christie’s most important contribution to the campaign has been to tell Republicans an often unwelcome truth, which is that they would be making a grave mistake to nominate Donald Trump for a second term. A former federal prosecutor, Mr. Christie has been unsparing about Mr. Trump’s awful efforts to undo his 2020 election loss, as well as the political risk if the GOP signs up for another wild ride…
“But the polling has made clear that GOP voters, whatever they think of Mr. Trump, weren’t rewarding Mr. Christie as the deliverer of that message. That meant the best contribution Mr. Christie could make to stopping Mr. Trump was to drop out himself. Give him credit for following through, putting his argument about what’s best for the country above the desire that every political competitor feels to run through the finish line.”
Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal
The left praises Christie’s criticism of Trump.
The left praises Christie’s criticism of Trump.
“Sixty years ago, in an insurgency that shaped the Republican Party for generations to come, Barry Goldwater’s campaign told skittish voters: ‘In your heart, you know he’s right.’ Christie’s pitch to Republican voters was essentially a variant: ‘In your heart, you know he’s wrong.’…
“It didn’t work. Maybe that’s because the old Republican Party really is a memory now, replaced by an amalgam of society’s darkest fears and impulses. Or maybe it’s because Christie never did manage to get his face-to-face reckoning with Trump…
“But perhaps the real problem for Christie was that this time, rather than trying to be everything to everyone as he was in that first gubernatorial bid, he ended up being nothing to anyone. Voters who harbor lingering affection for Trump, even if they’d rather not vote for him, saw Christie as a turncoat. Those who want an alternative, meanwhile, hadn’t forgotten the cringy way in which Christie helped legitimize the MAGA movement.”
Matt Bai, Washington Post
“Christie had the courage to demand that Republican voters answer the essential question: ‘Is this the type of conduct that we want from someone who wants to be president of the United States?’…
“The cold shoulder was the answer to his question. Polls now show that almost two-thirds of Republicans accept Trump’s ‘type of conduct’ and want him to be the party’s nominee for the third time in a row… Christie’s exit marks the end of the fight for the soul of the GOP.”
John Nichols, The Nation
“‘I would be happy to get out of the way for someone who is actually running against Donald Trump,’ Christie [said last week.] That, however, was not Haley. ‘Let’s say I dropped out of the race right now and I supported Nikki Haley,’ Christie explained. ‘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?’…
“Haley may well just be angling for vice president… Where Christie’s argument fell short, though, was that there was no better option to stopping Trump than betting it all on the potential double agent…
“What would he, and the people who supported Haley at his behest, look like if Christie dropped out and endorsed her before New Hampshire—only to eventually watch Haley come out as Trump’s running mate? They’d look like people who did their part to preserve the only evident pathway toward nominating a non-Trump Republican for president.”
Jim Newell, Slate
A libertarian's take
“Christie deserves praise for being the lone candidate in the race with the courage to directly challenge the Republican frontrunner, former President Donald Trump… And he was the rare Republican in the race who seemed interested in actually winning the nomination—as opposed to playing for second place and hoping prosecutors, the 14th Amendment, or the actuarial tables will prevent Trump from becoming the GOP nominee…
“He was also the only candidate willing to point out that Trump's trade wars accomplished nothing. His defense of parents' rights and trans rights at the last debate was rooted in the belief that, in his words, ‘Republicans believe in less government, not more, and less involvement with government, not more involvement in people's lives.’ Mark it down, because that may be the last time in this presidential cycle you'll hear a Republican make that sort of argument.”
Eric Boehm, Reason
