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Christie 2024 is over, Save Jerseyans, and much earlier than Christie 2016.
Former governor of New Jersey announced his departure from the presidential nominating contest during a 5:00 PM EST Wednesday New Hampshire town hall.
This is Christie’s second aborted presidential run. Eight years ago, he stayed in through New Hampshire but finished in 6th place and ended his campaign shortly thereafter. Christie was polling in third place in New Hampshire this time around as of Wednesday’s announcement but was also trailing a surging Nikki Haley by a double-digit margin; according to sources and published reports, a growing number of donors were indicating displeasure with the possibility of Christie undercutting Haley’s chance of upsetting Trump in the Granite State.
To make the moment even more crushing for the man who was once a GOP rising star, a Fox News journlist reports that Christie got caught in a hot mic moment before the town hall went live criticizing Haley as “not up to this” and about to get “smoked.”
Video of his announcement (and audio of the hot mic moment) are both below:
LIVE NOW: Town Hall with Chris Christie in Windham, New Hampshire https://t.co/1ckqmm2QgY
— Chris Christie (@GovChristie) January 10, 2024
BREAKING: While waiting for Chris Christie announcement, he can be heard on a hot mic criticizing @NikkiHaley while talking to someone.
“She’s gonna get smoked,” he says. “You and I both know it, she’s not up to this.”
He also claims DeSantis called him, then feed is cut. pic.twitter.com/3Lrz2t6BQ8
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) January 10, 2024