(RepublicanReport.org) – Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie centered his entire campaign around toppling Donald Trump in the GOP primaries. His approach was a gamble, one that ultimately lost him his spot. He announced that he was dropping out of the 2024 presidential race after he failed to qualify for the most recent primary debate.
The criteria for participating in the January 10 event, according to The Guardian, was having at least 10% of voters’ support in a minimum of polls approved by CNN, which hosted the debate. Christie didn’t meet that minimum, nor did businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, who has not yet conceded.
Christie had 11.6% of the projected New Hampshire vote when he dropped out, according to FiveThirtyEight, which currently puts Trump in the lead in that state — but only with 11.8 percentage points over former US ambassador Nikki Haley. Trump’s lead in Iowa is far more substantial, with 34.6 percentage points over Haley and 36.1 over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The two current top contenders were the only candidates other than Trump who qualified for the January 10 debate.
They were also the only two candidates to participate, according to CBS News. Christie’s decision to drop out could have significant impacts in New Hampshire, where he did still have some traction, leaving over 11% of the vote up for grabs. The state goes to the polls on January 23 — but Trump’s opponents will need to survive the January 15 Iowa caucus first, with its outcome likely to be extremely influential and potentially far less friendly to the two trailing candidates.
USA Today reports that Christie left the race without endorsing any of Trump’s surviving opponents, although he did make clear during his speech to his supporters that he felt neither Trump nor Joe Biden was fit to run the country. He added that he would continue to do everything in his power to see that his biggest Republican rival didn’t get elected back into office.
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