Republican Presidential candidate Chris Christie denounced talk that he would drop out of the 2024 presidential race, accusing New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu (R) — who floated the idea — of lying.
“It pains me to say this, but Gov. Sununu is a liar,” Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, said Tuesday in an interview with WMUR.
Sununu, who endorsed rival GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley, said in a recent interview he thinks Christie’s leadership team is talking to the former governor about dropping out of the race.
“I think members of his leadership team here in New Hampshire are having those discussions with them, and that’s the right folks to do it there,” Sununu told CNN’s Pamela Brown. “He has no ground game. He’s not even trying even in the next two or three days.”
Sununu continued, claiming Christie could be campaigning harder in the Granite State because he is “running out of resources.”
“So I think those discussions are happening,” he said. “I know they are with folks on his steering committee; a couple have already left.”
When pressed about how he knew the inside conversations of the Christie campaign, Sununu said he knows what’s going on because he’s “talking to the folks on his steering committee, and they’re all saying the same thing.”
However, he praised Christie for his ability to push messaging that counters former President Trump on the campaign trail; the GOP hopeful has been one of Trump’s most vocal critics.
Christie told WMUR he spoke with members of his steering committee and is unaware of anyone having conversations about pulling out of the race.
The former New Jersey governor said he learned about the New Hampshire governor’s endorsement of his rival Haley online and said it is “a shame to see Chris Sununu selling himself out.”
“But if he wants to say something to me, he’s got my number,” Christie said. “He’s had it since he ran in 2016, and he’s never hesitated to use it when he’s needed financial help for his campaigns. … So if he’s lost it, I know he knows plenty of people who give it to him.”
Christie has faced repeated calls for him to drop out of the race. Sununu has argued that by staying in the race, Christie is taking votes away from Haley, who has the best chance at beating former President Trump in the first-in-the-nation primary state.
According to polling from The Hill/Decision Desk HQ, Trump has 41.5 percent support in the state, with Haley in second place at 30.5 percent. Christie is in third with 11.5 percent support, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy are polling below 10 percent each.