Chris Christie, former governor of New Jersey, has been facing calls from anti-Trump Republicans to drop out of the Republican presidential primary. However, despite these criticisms and dismal polling, Christie has indicated that he’s determined to stay in the race — at least, for now.
New attempt
Christie’s campaign kicked off 2024 with a seven-figure ad buy in New Hampshire, the second state to hold a primary election. After a poor showing in the state in 2016, Christie dropped out of the race and endorsed then-candidate Donald Trump.
History repeats
According to an average of polls conducted in New Hampshire calculated by RealClearPolitics, Christie is trailing Trump by more than 30 points.
Calls to drop out
“He’s hit a ceiling,” New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu said. According to Sununu, who is a fierce critic of Trump, Christie’s campaign was “at an absolute dead end.”
End of the road
“I know he says he wants to stay in the race to speak the truth about Trump,” Sununu said, “but that translating to votes in a primary is a very different thing.” The governor argued that Christie should drop out in order to bolster the chances of Nikki Haley, another candidate.
Splitting the vote
According to one poll carried out in December, the gap in support between Christie and Haley, about 15 points, is almost the same as the gap between Haley and Trump. Haley is seen by many anti-Trump Republicans, including Sununu, as the best chance to defeat the former President.
Support the leader
“There’s no doubt that if Christie stays in the race,” Sununu argued, “the risk is that he takes [Haley’s] margin of the win.” However, as Christie himself has pointed out, there is no guarantee that his supporters would switch to Haley.
Little chance
Even if Haley wins in New Hampshire — which current polling suggests is unlikely — she faces a long and challenging road. In other states, Trump leads her by even more.
Christie defiant
“Some people say I should drop out of this race,” Christie says in his new New Hampshire advert. “Really? I’m the only one saying Donald Trump is a liar.”
Failed attempt
According to Charlie Bass, a former congressman in New Hampshire, that tactic has proved relatively popular among moderates but hasn’t resonated with more conservative Republicans. “I think the challenge for him has been, he came out of the gate and very much defined himself as ‘I’m going to go after Trump. I’m going to punch him every day,’” Merrill told USA Today. “As we’ve seen, there’s some reluctance on a large part of the base to hear that message.”
Avoiding conflict
In contrast to Christie, Haley has generally attempted to avoid directly attacking the former President. Instead, she refers in her speeches to the “chaos” that “rightly or wrongly” follows Trump.
Filling his role
“He’s not Voldemort from the ‘Harry Potter’ books,” Christie said in December. “He’s not ‘he who shall not be named.’” Christie has said that he will remain in the race, at least until Haley starts explicitly attacking the former President.
Still defiant
Trump will “burn America to the ground to help himself,” Christie said. “Every Republican leader says that in private. I’m the only one saying that in public.”
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