LAWRENCE TWP., N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is expected to announce next week that he will make a run for the White House. A political analyst says Christie faces steep odds in the Republican primary against former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
🎧 Related
The first question feels obvious: What is Christie thinking?
“He’s got a lot of skills, but self awareness is not among them,” said Micah Rasmussen, with Rider University’s Rebovich Institute. “And he just doesn’t really see the world the same way everybody else seems to see it right now.”
Christie left as the most unpopular governor in the state’s polling history, Rasmussen said. Christie would be entering the race as an underdog with little support locally or nationally.
“What his candidacy amounts to is a lottery ticket that Trump and DeSantis both implode.”
Christie ran for the GOP nomination in 2016 but dropped out after placing sixth in the New Hampshire primary. Rasmussen said it’s hard to envision a better outcome for him this time around.
A recent Fox News poll shows Christie with just 1% support among likely Republican primary voters. Mr. Trump leads with 53%.
Christie is planning to make the announcement at a town hall Tuesday evening at Saint Anselm College's New Hampshire Institute of Politics, according to a person familiar with his thinking who spoke on condition of anonymity to confirm Christie's plans.
Related
The timing, which was first reported by Axios, comes after several longtime Christie advisers started a super political action committee to support his expected candidacy.
Trump and DeSantis are the frontrunners in a crowded Republican primary that includes U.S. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, media personality Larry Elder and biotech entrepreneur and "anti-woke" activist Vivek Ramaswamy.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum is expected to announce his candidacy on June 7, according to two GOP operatives. And former Vice President Mike Pence is also expected to launch a campaign soon.
Related
Christie has cast himself as the only potential candidate willing to aggressively take on former President Donald Trump, the current front-runner for the nomination. Christie, a former federal prosecutor, was a longtime friend and adviser to Trump, but broke with Trump over his refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election. Christie has since emerged as a leading and vocal critic of the former president.
Allies believe that Christie, who has been working as an ABC News analyst, has a unique ability to communicate. They say his candidacy could help prevent a repeat of 2016, when Trump's rivals largely refrained from directly attacking the New York businessman, wrongly assuming he would implode on his own.
Christie has also said repeatedly that he will not run if he does not see a path to victory. "I'm not a paid assassin," he recently told Politico.
While Christie is expected to spend much of his time in early-voting New Hampshire, as he did in 2016, advisers believe the path to the nomination runs through Trump and they envision an unconventional, national campaign for Christie with a focus on garnering media attention and directly engaging with Trump.
Related
Related
