GOP presidential candidate Chris Christie said those urging him to drop out of the race are “crazy” to think he would do so.
“Anybody thinks I’m getting out of this race, they’re crazy,” Christie said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
Christie suggested that former President Trump’s numerous legal battles will result in President Biden being reelected to the White House in 2024. He said he will not step down from his campaign despite calls for him to do so, including from New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R), who said on CNN’s “State of the Union” this week that Christie’s campaign was at a “dead end.”
“And eventually, I think a large number of Republican voters are gonna say, ‘This is destined to reelect Joe Biden,’” Christie said. “That’s something that I think one of the only things that unites most Republicans is that they don’t want to reelect Joe Biden. And so I’m gonna continue to fight this as the only person who’s taking him on directly, and [Nikki Haley] can play for his vice presidential nomination.”
Calls for Christie to drop out of the race come as the former New Jersey governor failed to qualify for CNN’s primary debate in Iowa. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley were the only candidates to do so.
Christie dismissed any concerns that he did not qualify for the Iowa debate, noting that he has not spent any time in the state. He has instead been pooling his resources in the state of New Hampshire, where he is polling at 11 percent, according to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ average of the state’s polls.
“I’ve hit every mark that you needed to make that have been artificially set either by the [Republican National Committee] or by some of the networks, and the only place where I didn’t mean it was a place like Iowa where I hadn’t campaigned, run one TV commercial, or even showed up,” Christie said.
He also said he would wait until people vote before reevaluating his campaign.
“I view this as a fight for not only the soul of my party, but for the soul of our country, and who we’re going to be, what kind of government do we want? And so, why should that fight be determined by polls? I’d rather have people vote,” he said.
“And if I lose, then I’m gonna have to reevaluate, you know, all of this, but I haven’t lost anything yet,” he added.