Chris Christie does not have a ‘lane’ in the 2024 GOP primary
Zachary Faria
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Former New Jersey GOP Gov. Chris Christie apparently sees a “lane” in the 2024 GOP presidential primary. That lane is about as open as a lane on the George Washington Bridge.
Christie apparently thinks he can wreck former President Donald Trump’s campaign as he did to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) in the 2016 GOP primary. He’s already throwing other Republicans under the bus, including former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), suggesting they are too weak to take on Trump.
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Christie overestimates both his appeal and his own “talent.” Times have changed since 2016, and Christie has gone from the once-popular governor who missed his moment to a glorified CNN pundit. Christie is less popular and less influential among Republicans than ever. His words carry little weight.
His opponents have changed as well. The populist sentiment among Republicans in 2016 was already working against Rubio, who was seen as a polished politician and an immigration squish. Moreover, Christie did not wreck Rubio’s campaign, as he claims. Rubio did that to himself, falling repeatedly into a rehearsed answer. Christie happened to be the one butting heads with Rubio when it happened, but Rubio simply short-circuited.
Trump is not Rubio, though. Trump will have more goodwill from Republicans for his mostly successful presidency. No one is ever going to confuse him for a polished politician. And Christie, again, is nothing more than a glorified CNN pundit these days. What chunk of the GOP primary electorate is going to care what he has to say now?
All of this is too little, too late anyway. Christie wants to claim credit for taking down Rubio, but all that did was help Trump on his way to clinching the nomination. Christie had an opportunity to take on Trump in 2016, but instead, he cozied up to him and tried to become Trump’s running mate. He now says this was just a “strategic error.”
“Oops!” is not a good enough excuse. Christie blew his opportunities, both to become the nominee and to go after Trump. He’s a washed-up former governor with no constituency outside establishment media who will be happy to promote him as the latest anti-Republican Republican. Any campaign he launches would be nothing more than an ego-driven publicity stunt, which is all Christie probably cares about now anyway.