Former Gov. Chris Christie today ended his bid for the Republican presidential nomination.
“It’s clear to me tonight that there isn’t a path for me to win the nomination, which is why I’m suspending my campaign tonight for president of the United States,” he said at a town hall meeting in Windham, New Hampshire. “I want to promise you this: I am going to make sure that in no way do I enable Donald Trump to ever be president of the United States again, and that’s more important than my own personal ambition.”
His withdrawal could help Nikki Haley compete with frontrunner Donald Trump in the January 23 New Hampshire GOP primary. A recent poll shows Haley within seven points of the front runner, Donald Trump, 39%-32%, with Christie in third place with 12%.
But caught on a hot microphone prior to his announcement, Christie said he doesn’t think Haley can win.
“She’s going to get smoked,” he said. “She’s not up to this.”
This was Christie’s second unsuccessful bid for the presidency. In 2016, he finished sixth in the New Hampshire GOP primary with 7.4% of the vote. He dropped out the next day and quickly endorsed Trump.
In this campaign, Christie has repeatedly acknowledged that was a mistake.