Chris Christie Drops Out of 2024 Presidential Race
[guest post by Dana]
I realize that Chris Christie’s poll numbers have consistently lagged, but I would have loved to see him on a debate stage with Donald Trump. And while I understand that he previously supported the former president, he apologized to voters and explained his transition to being Trump’s loudest critic. It’s a shame that the other candidates have tip-toed around the issue, for the most part. (Or at least until it becomes less risky to say anything. . .)
I promise you this: I will make sure that in no way do I enable Donald Trump to ever be President of the United States again. That’s more important than my own personal ambition. pic.twitter.com/f9epxUxRM0
— Chris Christie (@GovChristie) January 10, 2024
—Dana
I think the country would have been in good hands had he become the president.
Dana (932d71) — 1/10/2024 @ 4:02 pmThe die was cast when the Senate did not convict. Me, I’d like to see Christie as Haley’s AG. There’s is now an actual swamp to clean out.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 1/10/2024 @ 4:11 pmI think the country would have been in good hands had he become the president.
I think we’d have been in better hands if Romney’s two terms had been followed by Paul Ryan. Instead, we’ve been pulled down into ideological mudwrestling, and it’s a pity they can’t both lose.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 1/10/2024 @ 4:13 pmNow poor Mrs. Christie will need to find some other way to get him out of the house.
nk (bb1548) — 1/10/2024 @ 4:48 pmDrive-thru
Kevin M (ed969f) — 1/10/2024 @ 4:49 pmTrump declined to debate and has said he would only debate a Republican contender if the race was close.
And a debate bin the fall between Joe Biden and Donald Trump may very well not come off too. They might also be arguing over whether a third party candidate should participate,
In 1980, there was a Reagan-Anderson debate before the single Reagan-Carter debate I think a week before the election.
That was before early voting and massive absentee balloting,
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 1/10/2024 @ 5:00 pmMajor Sad!
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 1/10/2024 @ 5:16 pmEveryone knows DeSantis is petrified, it explains his speaking style.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 1/10/2024 @ 5:24 pmThere goes the last Republican candidate I would vote for.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 1/10/2024 @ 5:28 pmChristie performed a public service by getting in the race and speaking the truth about Trump. I thank him for that.
norcal (667020) — 1/10/2024 @ 6:22 pm#10. There’s still Asa Hutchinson. And of course, Harold Stassen.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 1/10/2024 @ 6:27 pm11. Indeed. The only declared candidate of any party (other than the aforementioned Hutchinson and Stassen) for whom I’d have voted without holding my nose. And so, not coincidentally, the only candidate who got any of my money.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 1/10/2024 @ 6:31 pmHutchinson and DeSantis should drop out and support Haley. She stands the best chance of beating Trump AND Biden.
I mean, even Judge Judy supports Haley.
norcal (667020) — 1/10/2024 @ 6:41 pmI like Hutchinson, but Haley has a much better shot.
norcal (667020) — 1/10/2024 @ 6:42 pmChriste will always be able to return to enjoying the Jersey Shore by himself.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 1/10/2024 @ 7:01 pmChristie was there to sell books. His job is done.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 1/10/2024 @ 7:02 pmI just got up from the floor where I had fainted after watching msDNC where guest was allowed to say that unless their is a ceasefire or netanyahu is forced out office Biden will lose because Jill Stein will take votes from him! Muslim vote in michigan could swing the state and democrats under 40 will vote in large numbers for her. In 2016 80,000 democrats voted down ballot but didn’t vote for clinton as write in votes for sanders were counted as not voting. In 2020 Democrat party used rules put in by republicans to keep libertarians off ballot to keep green party off ballot. Biden won az, ga. and wi. and the election by less votes then jill stein got in 2016. Green party is now on the ballot in those states for 2024.
asset (170a11) — 1/10/2024 @ 7:13 pmI’m having trouble watching this debate tonight. DeSantis is up there acting like a 90-minute attack ad and unfortunately Nikki Haley is playing his game. She needs to let him act like a clown and stay out of Ron’s sewer.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 1/10/2024 @ 7:13 pm@18
Let’s you and Biden fight!
Kevin M (ed969f) — 1/10/2024 @ 7:14 pmChristie seemed fearless and unafraid of the boos and jeers he received when he took on Trump on the debate stage. Lots of jokes about his weight, but he’s quick on his feet in ways most of the other candidates are not. Too bad the rest of the party is so petrified of the Orange One.
JRH (266a1c) — 1/10/2024 @ 7:19 pm@18 those MI polls are depressing as hell. I think it has very little to do with Jill Stein though.
JRH (266a1c) — 1/10/2024 @ 7:32 pmLike Bush and Cheney, Christie should send a thank you note to Trump for singlehandedly rehabilitating his image. In Christie’s case, by being by saved from the nomination. If Christie were the nominee, the media would be roasting rather than feting him, and we’d be hearing how he’s unqualified because of Bridgegate.
lloyd (6fcbfe) — 1/10/2024 @ 7:33 pmToo bad the rest of the party is so petrified of the Orange One.
Most of the candidates don’t carry grudges and will reach out to those who supported someone else. Trump, on the other hand would rather get even than win.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 1/10/2024 @ 7:36 pm@22. It’s the death of a thousand cuts. Jill Stein, Cornel West, RFK Jr…. and now the defection of Muslims and <30s over Israel-Gaza. Very little plus very little plus very little… eventually it's not so little. I pray I'm wrong, but if I had to bet right now, I'd say we're looking at Trump 2.0, the Re-Orangeing.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 1/10/2024 @ 7:40 pmI’d say we’re looking at Trump 2.0, the Vengeance.
Again, there has never been a better time for a centrist challenge. Really, the only problem is the perception that it must fail, a perception nurtured by those who owe their livelihoods to the R-D sh1tshow.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 1/10/2024 @ 7:45 pmWell, Hutchinson has zero shot, so yeah. (And zero may be rounding up.)
Unfortunately I’m a single issue voter. As Christie summed it up tonight: Any candidate who can’t say Trump is unfit for office is unfit for office.
Not that it matters. My vote is irrelevant.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 1/10/2024 @ 7:47 pm@22 AZ biden wins by 10,000 votes green party not on 2020. Jill stein gets 36,000 vote 2016 when on ballot. Same for ga, mi. pa. and wi. In close elections third parties matter. 7,000,000+ votes more in 2020 for biden didn’t mean squat! Biden won electoral college by 43,000 votes. 10,000 az. 13,000 ga. 20,000 wi. In 2016 trump won michigan by 10,000 in 2016 with Jill Stein getting over 50,000 votes. I was stunned that msDNC allowed her name to be mentioned. Even they are scared Biden is going to lose.
asset (170a11) — 1/10/2024 @ 8:00 pmI prefer Jill in 90s folk singing mode:p
JRH (266a1c) — 1/10/2024 @ 8:08 pmI will be voting for jill stein in 2024 as I did in 2016. DNC playing games with the primaries doesn’t make people want to vote for biden more. It makes them willing to vote for jill stein.
asset (170a11) — 1/10/2024 @ 8:27 pmAny candidate who can’t say Trump is unfit for office is unfit for office.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 1/10/2024 @ 7:47 pm
I take it you don’t appreciate Haley’s efforts to thread the needle. 😊
norcal (bbe1d9) — 1/10/2024 @ 9:49 pm@norcal: I’m a pragmatist. Needle-threading is totally my thing. Ordinarily I’d be more than sympathetic to the calculation behind her attempt to have it both ways. But not this time. Trump is the most pernicious force in American politics in my lifetime. IMO his influence must be ripped out root and branch. No half measures. That’s uncharacteristically absolutist of me, but I guess if you live long enough….
lurker (cd7cd4) — 1/10/2024 @ 10:42 pmHear hear!
Rip Murdock (af7d08) — 1/10/2024 @ 11:22 pmHaley’s problem is that the new Republican Party is a class based party. In virtually every poll Trump’s support comes from working class, non-college educated males, which vastly outnumbers the college educated wine and cheese crowd.
She may do well in New Hampshire which is dominated by affluent suburban college educated voters, but when she heads into the South, Midwest, and the far West she’ll be out of her element.
Rip Murdock (215bb7) — 1/10/2024 @ 11:31 pmwhen she heads into the South, Midwest, and the far West she’ll be out of her element.
She won several elections in the South, with good old boys dealing her dirt.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 1/10/2024 @ 11:52 pm“Any candidate who can’t say Trump is unfit for office is unfit for office.”
I would suggest that the only way to navigate the current state of the GOP is a more nuanced criticism coupled with a growing fatigue with Trump’s unhinged commentary.
It’s not what you want to hear, but those who are persuadable are Trump supporters who liked his toughness on policy but are tiring of his undisciplined schtick. These supporters take excessive Trump criticism personally. At some point you lose them.
There’s a serious misinformation problem in the Republican ecosystem that won’t be corrected by a handful of candidates launching kamikaze truth bombs. Look at Christie’s negatives: if his was the path to beating Trump, wouldn’t we see some evidence that it was working?
Unsatisfying to many of us as it is, but “chaos follows him”, “J6 was terrible” and “Biden won that election” might just be the limit of what the persuadables are open to hearing….maybe. You’re not going to change the influence of folks like Hannity, Tucker, and Joe Rogan overnight. It’s baked into the system. People have to tire of Trump. It probably won’t happen in time for this election, but again maybe.
It’s the GOP voters we have, not the GOP voters we want. Like it or not, but a big chunk of these people will be needed to get some sort of conservative governance post Trump.
AJ_Liberty (0cefd2) — 1/11/2024 @ 4:59 amOutside of South Carolina, where did she win elections?
Rip Murdock (215bb7) — 1/11/2024 @ 5:31 amThe only help that Christie’s withdrawal can provide Haley is in New Hampshire, after that primary she’s on her own. Haley is -19 behind Trump in South Carolina.
Rip Murdock (215bb7) — 1/11/2024 @ 5:42 amThe dairies and the meat packers are not going to shut down as long as there are cattle running on the Trump range. Trump has become an industry which is filling the pockets of a lot of opportunists. Even his rallies have paid shills and seat fillers to energize the herd.
And I don’t see a drought or deep winter freeze which thins the herds, nor any rustlers of note driving them off. What will most likely happen is that with Trump’s passing — and he will pass, that is guaranteed — the range will again be divided among smaller competing ranchers as was the status quo before.
nk (1f5dac) — 1/11/2024 @ 6:29 amhttps://twitter.com/bennyjohnson/status/1745157876434268601
Not a big fan of Vivek, but he definitely speaks the truth here and nails the media on their false sacred cows. Good job.
NJRob (eb56c3) — 1/11/2024 @ 6:37 amhe definitely speaks the truth here
No, he does not. He’s a fool-magnet.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 1/11/2024 @ 7:55 amOutside of South Carolina, where did she win elections?
Everywhere she ran.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 1/11/2024 @ 7:56 amUnfortunately I’m a single issue voter.
Anyone who can rid us of this turbulent pest is a good person.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 1/11/2024 @ 7:57 amRamasalami’s sacred cows are not metaphorical.
nk (8afd5c) — 1/11/2024 @ 8:05 amThe point is that Haley’s college educated wine and cheese voters in regions outside of New England are outnumbered by Trump’s beer drinking high school educated voters.
Rip Murdock (215bb7) — 1/11/2024 @ 8:07 amTrump has long aimed at the average 98 IQ voter. This is a strategy that has worked since Marc Antony put paid to Brutus’s appeal in Act III, Scene II. It probably worked in Ur.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 1/11/2024 @ 8:15 amSo, I saw parts of the debate last night. Ron DeSantis is either unscrupulous or a moron. He may be both. He lies more than Donald Trump.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 1/11/2024 @ 8:22 amWhich is to say nowhere outside of South Carolina.
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 1/11/2024 @ 8:51 amWhat Trump does is come up with ideas or proposals that nobody else is for, but., at the same time, nobody is willing to argue against
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 1/11/2024 @ 10:40 amWhich is to say nowhere outside of South Carolina.
Which is to say that your comment is an inane nullity. No senator or governor who runs for President has won an election outside the their state. Even VP’s have not, at least on their own.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 1/11/2024 @ 10:43 am@47
Hmmm…I didn’t catch any.
I didn’t think it was a great showing for either candidate as it was too much attacking and grandstanding, and not enough direct criticism to Biden/Trump.
whembly (5f7596) — 1/11/2024 @ 11:03 amDeSantis smelled desperate. He was certainly aiming at social conservatives and those lazy enough to not fact check his claims. He didn’t come across as more likable….and he likely lost votes in NH. He’s a dead man running as he will lose badly in both NH and SC.
Haley hit him repeatedly on his imploding campaign and he didn’t have much to say about it. I think his recent conversion from Tea Partier wanting to reform SS retirement age to concern about our decreasing life expectancy was pretty transparent. His biggest whiff was when Haley called him on the US not being able to both deal with Ukraine funding and secure the southern border. She’s against the Trump base on the matter but her argument about Ukraine avoiding future wars was compelling.
I thought DeSantis late pitching for the line-item veto was a blast from the ’80’s….and adjudicated to be unconstitutional if I recall correctly. But as you suggest, DeSantis was not channeling the brightest bulbs. The performance probably didn’t help either much. They did some jabs against Trump with the purpose of working on the consciences of his persuadable supporters. But the bickering and repetition of DeSantisLies.com made the, both look a bit small and not especially likable. They both should probably stick to TownHall events where they do better on likability.
Let’s hope that Trump gets to participate in the closing of his trial today…or says something ridiculous afterwards. He’s the best spokesman for Haley/DeSantis. People need to be made tired of Trump. There may not be enough time but his legal walls are closing in. He will soon need to confront the evidence from J6. We should see the crazy going to 11.
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 1/11/2024 @ 11:12 amI didn’t think it was a great showing for either candidate
It wasn’t, and Haley made a huge mistake in engaging DeSantis’s virulence. But it was DeSantis who came out swinging in attack-ad mode.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 1/11/2024 @ 11:17 amHaley’s biggest asset is the ability to “look presidential” while Trump is anything but and DeSantis is a Nixon.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 1/11/2024 @ 11:20 amHaley won’t be far behind:
Rip Murdock (d2a2a8) — 1/11/2024 @ 1:08 pm(nbc news) Trump told european officials that he would not come to their aid if they were attacked by russia! Israel on trial for committing genocide against palestinian civilians by south africa. Likud politicians calling for getting rid of palestinians from gaza doesn’t help. (resettlement in the east?) Starve them to death like stalin in ukraine? Israel’s job is to get rid of hamas terrorists not committing genocide. If convicted of genocide the consequences for Israel and biden’s support will not be insignificant. Kill hamas not palestinian woman and children and stop murdering palestinians on the west bank to clear them out!
asset (a7e0d3) — 1/11/2024 @ 2:09 pmAJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 1/11/2024 @ 11:12 am
Although the judge at first denied him the right because he wouldn’t promise to stick to the issues, he did allow him later.
https://www.newser.com/story/344985/trump-unexpectedly-given-chance-to-address-court.html
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/11/2024 @ 2:23 pmasset (a7e0d3) — 1/11/2024 @ 2:09 pm
According to someone British the ratio of non combatants to combatants killed is between 0.6 and 3 to 1 which is better than other major wars. The average is 9 to 1 but that includes Russia and Syria. Even compared to the US and Britain it is better.
That’s total nonsense.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/11/2024 @ 2:28 pmKevin M (ed969f) — 1/11/2024 @ 10:43 am.
If they ran for president in a previous year, they very well may have won an primary election outside their state.
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/11/2024 @ 2:31 pmIf Nikki Haley wins New Hampshire then later she will have won an election outside her state.
Of course it can’t happen in the first primary or caucus the first time they run for president,
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/11/2024 @ 2:33 pmHow come every time I read something that Trump has said, I get a feeling that I have read it before?
nk (8afd5c) — 1/11/2024 @ 3:37 pm@55, I’m not sure why how other voters are voting should dictate how you would vote. Trump is up narrowly now. How will his poll numbers look after his chief of staff and other Republicans testify against him? How will his numbers look after he is convicted? Sununu would have been better served by being at least a bit coy. Certainly just saying that he could not endorse a convicted felon for the office of the President would be a simpler answer. Layer on the problems with self pardons and the potential for violence whether he wins or loses and one would think he would be comfortable.
Ehhh. It’s where the GOP is at. We’re approaching a reckoning. You can’t have a law-and-order party so nonchalant about actually obeying the law. I still believe the best play by politicians is to sit out any endorsement. History will have the final say.
AJ_Liberty (5f05c3) — 1/11/2024 @ 4:14 pmThey should have told Trump to go start his own party in 2016.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 1/11/2024 @ 4:29 pmOf course, the US Supreme Court could declare that Trump isn’t eligible. But I don’t think Roberts has the stones.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 1/11/2024 @ 4:31 pmhttps://www.cnn.com/2024/01/10/politics/fact-check-haley-desantis-debate/index.html
Sammy Finkelman (1d215a) — 1/11/2024 @ 4:43 pmAgain, I understand and sympathize with the impulse to trim a little today for a greater good tomorrow, but only up to a point. When you tell me it’s too much to ask that Haley and DeSantis say a candidate who tried to prevent the peaceful transfer of power is not only unfit for office, but should be held fully accountable for his behavior, that reads to me like the soft bigotry of low expectations. Any voter who would take such a fundamental truth as a personal affront is a big part of the problem. They may have been innocent when they first imbibed Trump’s demagoguery, but now they’re the hosts. Pandering only encourages them to continue spreading Trump’s dangerously corrosive lies. In short, I’m with Pat.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 1/11/2024 @ 5:27 pmlurker (cd7cd4) — 1/11/2024 @ 5:27 pm
This is indeed a conundrum. One the one hand there are you and Pat, whom I both respect.
On the other hand are AJ Liberty and Charles Cooke, whom I also respect.
Cooke had an article in 2022 that made an impression on me. So I went and dug it up.
https://www.nationalreview.com/magazine/2022/09/12/a-long-goodbye-to-trump/
[Emphasis mine]
Could not Haley be doing that important work?
More from the article:
I suspect Trump voters are more likely to move on from him if they aren’t browbeaten and made to feel stupid.
More:
Could not Haley’s pardon of Trump be similar?
Further:
The bottom line: I’m not sure which approach is best, but I’m leaning towards the belief that Haley’s triangulation will bring more Trump voters around than insisting they admit how wrong they were.
norcal (f2b32b) — 1/11/2024 @ 6:28 pmthose who are persuadable are Trump supporters who liked his toughness on policy but are tiring of his undisciplined schtick. These supporters take excessive Trump criticism personally. At some point you lose them.
AJ_Liberty (0cefd2) — 1/11/2024 @ 4:59 am
I agree. When I talk to Trump supporters, I try to find common ground, and gently point out how other Republicans would be better. I think it helps when I mention that I voted for Trump in 2016.
norcal (f2b32b) — 1/11/2024 @ 6:37 pmAnd they constitute what percentage of Trump’s supporters?
Rip Murdock (215bb7) — 1/11/2024 @ 8:36 pmnorcal: And I respect you and AJ. I mostly agree with the Cooke passages you quoted, but I believe much of it is inapposite to Trump. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to elaborate now, and I won’t until at least the weekend. I’ll try to get back to it then.
lurker (cd7cd4) — 1/11/2024 @ 8:49 pmThank you for the kind words, lurker. It’s amazing how I can feel a kinship with certain people online. I’ve been rather preoccupied the past couple of months, but it’s good to see the regulars are still around.
norcal (f708aa) — 1/11/2024 @ 9:39 pmI suspect that, if we are so lucky as to have a GOP candidate other than Trump, versus Biden or Newsom or someone worse, that it will be a hard decision to say “There’s not a dime’s worth of difference” or even “At least Biden called Trump for what he was.” The latter would take a special class of self-delusion.
Kevin M (ed969f) — 1/11/2024 @ 9:43 pmJonah Goldberg has a good bit in The Dispatch Thursday on how Democrats have historically played the fascist card:
Kevin M (ed969f) — 1/11/2024 @ 9:48 pm@58 its not nonsense I posted earlier of video ap and other news media has seen showing palestinian boy shot and two others running to aid him shot down by Israelis in jeeps. Israel say they were young terrorists throwing fire bombs. Oh! wait you got a video showing us lying well war is hell! 492 palestinians including 120 children have been killed on the west bank this year alone many before oct. 7. Many like me agree with destroying hamas this is not destroying the hamas killers from gaza. Also not helpful likud party and others saying west bank palestinians should be evicted to jordan and other arab countries.
asset (f9aa99) — 1/11/2024 @ 11:52 pm74. asset (f9aa99) — 1/11/2024 @ 11:52 pm
What’s nonsense is that Israel is “murdering palestinians on the west bank to clear them out!”
It isn’t trying to chase hem out – it’s not murdering Palestinians as a rule – far many more are arrested than killed (the opposite of the way it is in Gaza) – and this is all because of a rise in terrorist attacks. Israel killed in Lebanon a man described as the second in command of Hamas because he was co-ordinating things in the West Bank and throughout the Middle East – another leader of Hamas fled to Turkey before but he stayed because he functioning as a secure communications channel probably between Iran and various points.
There’s maybe a little bit of paranoia in Israel – but there are real enemies, They’ve cut off all family visits to prisons and communications and work permits from the West Bank, or so it was a few weeks ago.
hat’s what comes of answeribf questions too quickly
and do you what percentage were justifiable or people who were shooting?
It’s not helpful criticizing only Israel. Now Israel’s strategy may be going nowhere. The U.S> government seems to think that thiss will end with the capture or death of top Hamas leader(s) in Gaza. Not by trying to kill over 10,000 foot soldiers, and in the process killing a large number of others despite having a protocol to prevent a lot of that.
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 1/13/2024 @ 4:58 pmIt happens in every presidential election since 1972: Candidates drop out much faster than they were previously expected to do.
Sammy Finkelman (c2c77e) — 1/14/2024 @ 12:08 pm