The former New Jersey governor joins a growing list of candidates for the 2024 Republican nomination for the White House.
Washington, DC – Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a fierce Republican critic of former President Donald Trump, has joined the crowded field of candidates seeking the 2024 presidency of the United States.
Christie filed papers with US election officials on Tuesday making his candidacy official and is expected to launch his campaign later in the day at an event in New Hampshire.
Often portrayed as a pragmatic conservative who governed the Democratic-leaning state from 2010 to 2018, Christie first ran for president in 2016 but dropped out early after a failed campaign. Recent opinion polls show him winning only 1 to 2 percent of primary voters, making his latest bid a longshot.
The former governor has been an outspoken critic of Trump, who is also seeking the White House in 2024.
But he was once a close ally of the former president and endorsed Trump in the 2016 Republican primaries after ending his run for president that year.
Christie turned against Trump after the former president tried to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Trump’s oft-repeated claims of a “rigged” election helped spark an attack on the US Capitol, where his supporters sought to prevent President Joe Biden’s victory from being ratified.
“We keep losing and losing and losing,” Christie said of Republicans after the party’s lackluster performance in the midterm elections last year.
“And the reason we lost is because Donald Trump put himself before everyone else.”
Christie stepped up his attacks on Trump as he prepares to enter the 2024 race, going so far as to call him a “puppet” of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He also criticized Republican candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis along with Trump for their skepticism about US support for Ukraine as the country faces a full-scale Russian invasion.
Christie rose to prominence as a New Jersey federal prosecutor, overseeing several high-profile cases. He was later elected governor in 2009 and was easily re-elected four years later.
But his presidential ambitions and political standing took a hit the following year. In early 2014, text messages were released suggesting that Christie’s allies had closed lanes on a busy New York bridge to create traffic jams as punishment for a New Jersey mayor who refused to support then-Gov.
Christie claimed he had no knowledge of the scheme. Two officials connected to the governor would eventually be convicted in the prison scandal that became known as “Bridgegate.”
Now he’s staging a political comeback at his crossroad with Trump.
The race for the Republican nomination is still largely seen as a two-horse race between the former president and DeSantis. Still, with the first primary still months away and Trump facing legal troubles, including criminal charges in New York, outside candidates like Christie will be hoping to gain popularity before 2024.
Other candidates in the Republican race include former Vice President Mike Pence, Senator Tim Scott, former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
The winner of the Republican nomination will most likely face Biden, who is seeking re-election in the November 2024 general election.