(Windham) – Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Wednesday that he has ended his bid to run in the Republican presidential primary.
“It was never my goal to simply be a voice against the hatred, division and selfishness that our party has become under Donald Trump,” Mr. Christie said at a public rally in New Hampshire.
“I've always said that if there comes a time in this race when I don't see a path to achieving that goal, I will step down,” he added. It is clear to me tonight that there is no way for me to win the nomination, and that is why I will suspend my campaign for President of the United States tonight. »
It was not immediately clear whether Mr Christie was backing any of his rivals, but he was heard criticizing former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley during a live broadcast hosted by his campaign before the “event”.
The withdrawal comes as a surprise, given that Mr. Christie had been pinning his hopes on the New Hampshire primary, the first of its kind in the country, which will be held in less than two weeks. As of Tuesday, he insisted he had no plans to leave the race, and continued to present himself as the only candidate willing to take on the former president directly.
allies mI Haley, including New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu and other anti-Trump Republicans, have urged Mr. Christie to step down, hoping many of his supporters will flock to Mr. Christie.I Haley, which will give him an opportunity to turn the race into a competition between two candidates with Trump, who is considered the most likely candidate for the nomination.
A CNN/UN poll in New Hampshire — which gave Mr. Christie a 12 percent rating — found that about two-thirds of his supporters would choose Mr. Christie.I Haley as a second choice.
Mr. Christie presented himself as the fiercest opponent in the race against the former president who has become a favorite of the Republican Party.
He warned voters not to nominate a candidate who has been indicted four times on criminal charges and who could be a convicted felon by the general election scheduled for November. He said that Trump would lose in the rematch against President Joe Biden, the likely Democratic nominee.
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