You’d be hard pressed to find someone excited for Chris Christie as the former governor launched his 2024 presidential campaign on Tuesday.
One prominent U.S. Senator was downright salty.
“Any political reporter/commentator claiming Christie “ended” my campaign in 2016 is lazy or dumb NH debate sucked because instead of hitting back when attacked like I wanted to, I listened to advice about “pivoting” & not “punching down” on a CC who was at 7% & about to drop out,” tweeted Marco Rubio (R-FL). “But it didn’t end my campaign. After NH I finished 2nd in SC & NV, won 3 primaries, almost won Virginia on Super Tuesday, finished with the 3rd most delegates behind Trumps historic campaign & was reelected twice by 8 & 17 points.”
Rubio was referring to an infamous February 2016 debate moment when the young senator repeated talking points instead of directly addressing an attack from Christie. Rightly or wrongly, pundits have routinely attributed Rubio’s failure to take off in the 2016 presidential primary cycle to his exchange with the then-governor of New Jersey.
Here it is if you’ve forgotten and want to decide for yourself:
