NEW YORK (AP) — Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is expected to launch his bid for the Republican presidential nomination at a New Hampshire town hall on Tuesday night.
The campaign will be the second for Christie, who lost to Trump in 2016 and became an on-and-off close adviser before breaking with the former president over his refusal to accept the 2020 election results. He ran as the only candidate willing to face former President Donald Trump directly.
Christie will enter a growing primary field that already includes Trump, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and U.S. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina. Former Vice President Mike Pence will officially launch his own campaign in Iowa on Wednesday.
Christie, who during his time as governor of New Jersey has earned a reputation as a fighter with a knack for creating viral moments of confrontation, faces an uphill battle for the nomination in a party that remains closely aligned with the former president, despite Trump’s 2020 re-election loss and worse-than-expected Republicans in the 2022 midterm elections.
Christie presented himself as the only person with the guts to take on Trump directly and warned of a repeat of 2016 if the candidates fail to confront him.
“I’m not dumb. The way to win is to beat whoever’s in front. So what would a campaign look like? A campaign would look like a direct frontal challenge to Donald Trump trying to get back to the presidency,” he said recently. Christie in a podcast interview.
Anti-Trump Republicans are especially eager to see Christie spar with Trump on a debate stage — if, of course, Trump agrees to participate in the primary debates and Christie meets the strict fundraising criteria set by the National Committee. Republican for participation.
But Christie also said he wouldn’t run as a suicide bomber to defeat Trump if he didn’t believe there was a viable path to his own victory. “I’m not a paid assassin,” he recently told Politico.
His campaign will test Republican voters’ appetite for someone who has voiced support for many of Trump’s policies but criticized the former president’s conduct.
Christie dismissed Trump’s lies that the 2020 election was stolen and urged the party to move on or risk future losses.
Other like-minded Republicans, including former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, opted against their own campaigns, fearing that having more candidates in the race would benefit Trump.