Christie in first GOP primary ad says he’s only candidate trying to stop Trump

Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie is selling himself as the “only one” who can defeat former President Trump in the former New Jersey governor’s first campaign ad.

The ad released Friday calls out Christie’s fellow GOP presidential candidates for going after each other instead of focusing their criticism on the race’s clear front-runner.

It includes clips of attack ads from former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Gov. Ron DeSantis (Fla.) targeting each other, while noting that they both significantly trail Trump in polls.

“There’s only one candidate trying to stop Trump,” the ad’s narrator said. “Chris Christie is the only one who can beat Trump, because he’s the only one trying to beat Trump.”

Christie has sold himself as the choice anti-Trump candidate, consistently criticizing the former president and vowing to defeat him. He underlined that point in the fourth GOP debate last week, throwing digs at Trump but also the other candidates, who he said didn’t care about defeating the former president.

The former governor has focused nearly all of his campaign resources in New Hampshire, with the hope that a strong performance there would lead to support elsewhere. 

He is polling third in the Granite State with about 13 percent support, according to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ polling averages. Trump leads the New Hampshire field with about 46 percent support, according to the polling average, while Haley places second with about 20 percent support.

Despite the strong debate performance, Christie still faces pressure to drop out of the race, with some arguing that it would be more effective to rally anti-Trump votes around another candidate.

The New Hampshire primary, the second vote of the primary season, is set for Jan. 23.

Updated at 9:19 a.m. ET