Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) is expected to announce he’s running for president during a town hall at New Hampshire’s Saint Anselm College on Tuesday night.
Christie would join more than half a dozen notable Republicans vying against former President Trump for a chance to take on President Biden in the 2024 election.
The former New Jersey governor is considered a longshot for the White House, as The Hill’s Niall Stanage noted, especially given his heavy criticism of Trump, who still enjoys a strong hold over the GOP base.
Still, he brings an unpredictable element to the crowded primary, given his pugilistic attitude that has helped drag down rivals in the past, such as Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) during the 2016 presidential race.
“If it’s not a vanity campaign, I think its value … is that he can go in there and throw the hard punches, and maybe other candidates in the field can benefit from that,” GOP strategist Jason Cabel Roe, who worked on presidential campaigns for Rubio in 2016 and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) in 2008, told The Hill last week.
Christie also has a unique lane as someone who’s previously debated Trump before and as someone who’s helped the former president with debate prep in 2020 — giving Christie insight into Trump’s thinking on the debate stage that other candidates may not have.
Still, some Republicans are skeptical if Christie’s attacks will be rewarded by voters in the end.
“If Trump loses New Hampshire, Christie is going to be a part of it, but I just don’t see the voters rewarding him as a result,” GOP strategist and Trump campaign alum Brian Seitchik told The Hill.
“Now, that may lead to a future Republican nominee and president rewarding him with [naming him] attorney general, which is not a bad consolation prize, but it’s hard to see how Christie gets to be the [nominee] playing the role of junkyard dog in this race.”
