Chris Christie Ends 2024 US Presidential Campaign

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced Wednesday that he is ending his campaign for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, marking the exit of the most outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump in the GOP primary.

“It is 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,” he said at a town hall in Windham, New Hampshire, just 13 days before the first-in-the-nation primary. He called it the “right thing for me to do” and promised that he would never “enable Donald Trump to become, to ever be president of the United States again.”

Christie’s decision comes on the heels of a new batch of disappointing poll numbers, especially in New Hampshire, where he hoped a less conservative electorate would coalesce around his sharp opposition to Trump, whom he described as “devoid of character.”

His departure could be a boon to former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who has pulled to within single digits of Trump in the Granite State, according to a new CNN Poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire. The survey found that 65% of Christie supporters – 12% of the total – listed Haley as their second choice. She trailed Trump 39% to 32% among likely primary voters.

Before his exit, he slammed Haley repeatedly and suggested she was running to be Trump’s vice president with an eye on a promotion in 2028.