Chris Christie to take on Donald Trump as he confirms second US presidential run
Chris Christie is set to put himself up against Donald Trump again in the race for the GOP presidential nomination as he files paperwork to run for US President.
The former New Jersey Governor, who is set to officially announce his run for president at a town hall in New Hampshire tonight, is in a similar position to former Vice President Mike Pence as both men distanced themselves from their former boss in the wake of the 2020 election.
Christie ran against Trump in 2016 but went on to become one of his close advisers during his presidency. The two fell out in the wake of the 2020 election as Trump refused to accept the results, claiming without evidence the vote had been rigged.
Now, Christie, who served as the Garden State's governor from 2010 to 2018, hopes to cast himself as the only candidate willing to directly take on and challenge former President Donald Trump.
Christie was one of Trump's close advisers (Getty Images)In a recent podcast interview, he said: "I’m not dumb. The way to win is to beat the guy who’s ahead. And so what would a campaign look like? A campaign would look like a direct frontal challenge to Donald Trump trying to return to the presidency."
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In March, he told Axios there was "no way" he would ever support a potential Trump return to the White House.
Anti-Trump Republicans are particularly eager to see Christie spar with Trump on a debate stage — if, of course, Trump agrees to participate in primary debates and Christie meets the stringent fundraising criteria set by the Republican National Committee for participation.
But Christie has also said he would not run as a kamikaze candidate to take down Trump if he didn't believe there was a viable path to his own victory. “I’m not a paid assassin,” he recently told Politico.
His campaign will test the appetite among Republican voters for someone who has expressed support for many of Trump's policies but has criticised the former president's conduct.
Christie joins Pence and Turmp in a growing field of candidates that now includes South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, United Nations Ambassador Nikkie Haley and Florida Governor Ron DeSatnis.
North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum is expected to announce on Wednesday.
Of the candidates, it is DeSantis who has been tipped as the most likely to challenge the 45th president in the Republican showdown, but Trump still leads in the polls.
Trump and Christie fell out after the 2020 presidential election (Getty Images)Christie has since become one of Trump's top Republican critics and argues the party must disavow Trump's false claims and move past his complaints to focus on the future - or keep losing elections.
"As Republicans, we need to free ourselves from the quicksand of endless grievances. We need to turn our attention to the future and quit wallowing in the past. We need to face the realities of the 2020 election and learn - not hide - from them," he wrote in his book,
"Republican Rescue." He called on the party to rid itself of conspiracy complaints and focus on providing voters with a positive alternative to Democratic policies.
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Christie has also been open about his plans, saying since 2021 that he would run if he believed he could be elected.
"If I see a pathway to winning, I'll run," he said. "And I feel like I have the skills and the talent and the ability to be able to make a difference in our party and in the country."
The former governor, who has known Trump for nearly 20 years, has had a complicated friendship with the former developer and reality TV star.
Christie is known as an outgoing figure (Getty Images)At times, he was one of Trump's closest advisers. He was on the shortlist to serve as Trump's vice president, oversaw Trump's early White House transition efforts, said he was offered - and turned down - multiple Cabinet positions, and helped Trump prepare for each of his general election debates in 2016 and 2020.
It was during those debate preparations that Christie believes he caught Covid-19, landing him in intensive care.
But Christie also clashed with Trump at times and has described the former president's refusal to accept his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden as a breaking point. In appearances and interviews, Christie says he was "incredibly disappointed and disillusioned" by Trump's refusal to concede, which culminated in his followers' violent storming of the Capitol on January 6 in an effort to halt the certification of Biden's win.
Christie's time as New Jersey governor wasn't without controversy and in 2013 a scandal known as "Bridgegate" rocked his administration.
Members of Christie's office staff approved two lane closures in the city of Fort Lee, causing massive traffic jams as people tried to drive across the George Washington Bridge into New York City.
Christie denied making the decision and investigation into the incident did not suggest otherwise, but others accused him of creating a divisive culture in his office that led to the decision to close the lanes.
In 2017, he earned the ire of some New Jerseyans during a partial shutdown caused when Christie and the state legislature were unable to agree on a budget.
After he was seen at a beach with his family, which closed as a direct result of the shutdown, Christie was heavily criticised.
In response, he said: "I'm sorry they’re not the governor.”
In terms of policy, Christie's governorship notably saw the deregulation of New Jersey's environmental laws and support for fracking, though encouraged investment in alternative energy.
He also vetoed a bill that aimed to make it illegal to dump fracking waste.
A Quinnipiac University poll in 2017 put the then-governor as the least popular in the state's history with a 15 per cent approval rate. The disapproval rating was as high as 81 per cent.
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