Hannity says he’s not ‘interested in facilitating or listening’ to Christie

Fox News host Sean Hannity said he is not “interested in facilitating or listening” to former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is expected to launch a bid for the 2024 GOP nomination for president Tuesday. 

Hannity said Friday that he does not have any problem with giving airtime to any of the candidates who want to come on his show to give their point of view on the issues, but he believes Christie is more interested in attacking Trump than winning the nomination. 

“I’m looking at this and I’m saying, ‘OK, you’re only getting in this race ’cause you hate Donald Trump and want to bludgeon Donald Trump.’ I don’t see Chris Christie actually wanting to run and win the nomination. He views it as his role to be the enforcer and to attack Trump,” Hannity said. 

Christie was formerly a close ally of Trump and helped him prepare for the 2020 presidential debates against President Biden. But Christie soured on Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and broader efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. 

Christie has lobbed strong criticism on Trump in the years since. 

He has also been among the sharpest critics of the current and potential Republican candidates for the nomination against Trump, saying last month that that the only way to win is to “go through” the former president. 

Christie also has said he does not believe that Republican voters will punish a candidate for attacking Trump, dismissing a fear that some experts and observers believe is widespread among Republicans. 

“You know what? That’s not a very inspiring agenda, and I don’t even know if I’m interested in facilitating or listening to him babble on when he left office with nobody in New Jersey even liking him,” Hannity said, referring to Christie’s low approval ratings from his time as governor. 

Christie served two terms as governor in a state that strongly leans Democratic, but he had one of the lowest approval ratings of any governor in state history by the time he left office in 2018. 

A Quinnipiac University poll taken in June 2017 found his approval rating to be 15 percent, the lowest of any governor in recorded New Jersey history. 

Christie previously ran for president in 2016 but dropped out following the New Hampshire primary.