Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey who was eclipsed by Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential primaries, announced Tuesday that he would seek the 2024 Republican nomination, setting up a rematch with the former president and expanding the field of GOP candidates.
In making a second run for the presidency, Christie, 60, has positioned himself as the person most willing to attack both Trump, his former friend turned adversary, and Gov Ron DeSantis of Florida.
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Christie, who declared his run on Tuesday evening at a town-hall-style event in New Hampshire, set himself apart from all other Republicans running by going directly after Trump. He called him “a bitter, angry man,” said his record in office was a failure and, in an unusually personal attack, accused Trump and family members of profiting off the presidency, referring to an investment from the Saudi crown prince.
“The grift from this family is breathtaking,” Christie said. “It’s breathtaking. Jared Kushner and Ivanka Kushner walk out of the White House and months later get $2 billion from the Saudis?”
“That’s your money he stole,” he continued, adding, “That makes us a banana republic.”
Over more than two hours, Christie also chided other Republicans in the race as being too timid to criticize Trump by name. Describing a recent appearance in Iowa of other 2024 hopefuls, he mocked their euphemistic swipes at the former president. “‘We need a leader who looks forward, not backwards,’” Christie said, his voice dripping sarcasm. “I get it! You’re talking about the way the 2020 election was stolen. And you won’t say it wasn’t stolen.”
In earlier appearances, Christie has called Trump a loser because of his 2020 defeat, and said that he was unfit to return to the White House after inciting a mob to attack the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The audience on Tuesday, at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, appeared to be almost entirely independent voters. In interviews, almost everyone disapproved of Trump.
“He’s a very capable guy,” Paul R Kfoury Sr, a retired judge from Bedford, New Hampshire, said of the former governor. “Very centrist. Not a right-wing nut like so many of them, frankly, if I may be candid.” But he was skeptical of Christie’s chances in his party. “It’s a heavy lift,” he said.
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