Chris Christie says Republicans need ‘fearless’ opponent to defeat Trump in 2024
Rachel Schilke
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Former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) believes Republican candidates in the 2024 election cycle need to be aggressive and “fearless” in their battle against former President Donald Trump in order to secure the GOP nomination.
Christie referred back to his takedown of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) on a debate stage in 2016, saying Republicans need to find a candidate who can fight Trump in a similar way to “what I did to Marco because that’s the only thing that’s going to defeat” him.
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“You have to be fearless, because he will come back — and right at you. And that means you need to think about who’s got the skill to do that, and who’s got the guts to do that, because it’s not going to end nicely,” Christie said to Politico.
The former Republican governor has been a vocal critic of Trump and is “actively considering” a run for president, with a decision to come “no later than early to mid-May.”
Christie has blasted Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) for his comments on China and the war in Ukraine and Trump for the less-than-expected performance of Republicans in the midterm elections.
“He told us during that campaign in ’16 that we were going to do so much winning that we would be sick of winning. Yet in 2018, we lost the House; in 2020, we lost the White House and we lost the Senate; and in 2022, we lost more governorships, another seat in the Senate, and historically underperformed in the House,” Christie said in an interview with the Washington Examiner.
“So, I’m tired of losing, and I’m tired of being disappointed. And I think most Republicans are, too. And that argument needs to be made and made directly to the people of our party. And then we’re going to see how they react,” he continued.
Several of Christie’s former supporters also hope that he will step into the ring to battle Trump.
“We definitely need somebody strong and optimistic. We need to have somebody that can win the primary and the general election,” Hillary Seeger, an activist who supported Christie’s campaign in 2016, told Politico.
Christie tested the waters in New Hampshire in his search for a “pathway to winning” during a town hall-style appearance on Monday at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics. He has labeled himself Trump’s top critic, which he thinks is lacking in the 2024 Republican primary field.
“They’re going to wriggle right up next to him and say, ‘I’m almost like him, but I’m not quite as bad,’” the former governor said about his possible opponents.
He chalked up his withdrawal from the 2016 race as a strategic error and said he does not plan on making the same mistake should he enter the race in 2024.
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Christie has continuously slammed the former president for looking out only for himself, recently pointing to Trump thriving on “chaos and turmoil” after announcing he was going to be arrested under an indictment from a Manhattan grand jury.
“Trump said a few weeks ago: I am your retribution. Guess what everybody? No thanks. The only person he cares about is him. And if we haven’t learned that since Election Day 2020 until today, we’re not paying attention,” the ex-governor said.