New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu pushed Chris Christie to drop out of the 2024 presidential race, arguing that the only one he wants to keep him in the race is Donald Trump.
“He knows that his voters who want to see Trump defeated are flocking to Nikki Haley,” Sununu told CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday.
“In fact, the only person who wants Chris Christie to stay in the race is Donald Trump. He thinks about the irony of that.”
Sununu, a popular Republican governor in the Granite State, endorsed former US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley for the presidential nomination earlier this month.
Christie has positioned himself as Trump’s attack dog in the 2024 Republican field and has essentially bet his presidential campaign on a strong showing in New Hampshire.
Haley has averaged second place in New Hampshire with 24.8% support, while Trump remains solidly in first place with 46.3%. Christie trails in a distant third place with 10.5%, according to the latest polling aggregate from RealClearPolitics.
“The events of the last few days fully solidify what Christie has been making for six months. That the truth matters and that if you can’t answer the easy questions you can’t solve the big problems,” a Christie spokesperson told the Post in response to a question about Sununu’s coup.
Chris Christie has responded to calls for him to retire, responding that he is the only one taking the fight to Donald Trump. AP
Given Christie’s polling in New Hampshire, some critics like Sununu have argued that she should end her campaign to consolidate her anti-Trump voters behind Haley.
Christie recently ran an ad rejecting that notion.
“Some people say I should give up this career. Actually? “I’m the only one who says Donald Trump is a liar,” Christie said. “What kind of president do we want, a liar or someone who has the courage to tell the truth?”
Sununu has been an outspoken critic of Trump and even considered mounting his own campaign before determining that a crowded primary would benefit the 45th president.
“Chris Christie is a friend. But his career is absolutely at a dead end,” Sununu told CNN. “Chris is just talking about Trump. That’s it, it’s kind of a one-man show.”
The governor of New Hampshire has surmised that Nikki Haley has the best odds of beating Donald Trump. AP Nikki Haley has gained significant momentum in a series of recent polls. AP
“And I know he says he wants to stay in the race to tell the truth about Trump, but that translated into votes in a primary is something very different and has hit a ceiling.”
Sununu’s snub against Christie came as he responded to the former New Jersey governor calling Haley slippery and saying, “she’s not willing to offend anyone by telling the truth.”
Christie’s criticism of Haley stemmed from a gaffe at a town hall event in Berlin, New Hampshire, in which she refused to blame slavery for causing the Civil War. She has since clarified that “it was about slavery.”
Donald Trump remains the Republican Party’s favorite for 2024. AP
“She cleared it up quickly, right?” Sununu said of the error. “Obviously, if something needs to be clarified a little bit, you know you wish you had said it a little differently the first time, but she cleared it up quickly.”
The first Republican contest is scheduled for January 15, 2024, in the Iowa caucuses. The New Hampshire Republican primary is scheduled for January 23, 2024.
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