(Headline USA) Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie suggested this week that he is the only Republican who could beat former President Donald Trump in the 2024 primary.
Speaking in New Hampshire on Monday at a St. Anselm College event, Christie claimed he has the experience and appeal necessary to topple Trump. He referenced a viral exchange with Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., during the 2016 primary presidential debate, in which he blasted Rubio as inexperienced.
“You better have somebody on that stage who can do to [Trump] what I did to Marco, because that’s the only thing that’s going to defeat Donald Trump,” Christie claimed. “And that means you have to be fearless, because he will come back and right at you.”
Christie then suggested that some of the current Republican hopefuls, including former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, don’t have the guts to call Trump out. Neither Pence nor DeSantis have yet announced 2024 bids.
“It’s not going to end nicely, no matter what,” Christie said. “His end will not be a calm and quiet conclusion.”
Christie dropped out of the 2016 primary a week after his viral exchange with Rubio and endorsed Trump. He has since become vocally critical of the former president, accusing Trump this week of leading the GOP down a “sinkhole of anger and retribution.”
“Donald Trump said a couple of weeks ago, ‘I am your retribution.’ Guess what everybody? No thanks. No dice,” Christie said Monday. “He doesn’t want to be my retribution. That’s baloney. The only person he cares about is him.”
When asked about his plans to run for president, Christie said, “I have my timetable.”
Christie then said endorsing Trump back in 2016 was a “mistake” and admitted he made a “strategic error” in thinking other candidates would be able to beat Trump.
