Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has filed official paperwork confirming he will be running for the Republican nomination for the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
Mr. Christie has presented himself as the only candidate willing to directly challenge former President Donald Trump, who is also officially in the race.
This will be a second Republican nomination campaign for Mr. Christie, who is also a former federal prosecutor. He had lost to Mr. Trump in 2016, before becoming one of his close advisers.
The former governor, however, severed ties with the former White House tenant when the latter refused to recognize the results of the 2020 election.
Mr. Christie enters a race where there are already several candidates on the starting line. In addition to Mr. Trump and him, the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, the former ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and the senator of South Carolina Tim Scott have formalized their candidature.
Former Vice President Mike Pence will officially launch his own campaign in Iowa on Wednesday.
During his tenure as Governor of New Jersey, Mr. Christie earned a reputation as a fighter with a special talent for creating strong moments in his run-ins with political opponents.
However, he will have a lot of work to do if he wants to be the Republican candidate in the next presidential elections, since his party remains closely aligned with Mr. Trump, despite the defeat in the 2020 presidential elections and the worse than expected results in the election. mid-term of 2022.
“I’m not stupid. I know the only way to win a race is to beat the leader. So what would my campaign look like? She would seem like a direct obstacle to Donald Trump who is trying to return to the White House, ”said Mr. Christie during a podcast interview before the formalization of his candidacy.
Anti-Trump Republicans are especially eager to see Mr. Christie cross swords with the former president at the debates — if Mr. Trump agrees to participate in the debates and Mr. Christie meets the strict fundraising criteria set by the Republican National Committee.
But Mr. Christie was clear: his goal is not just to harm Mr. Trump, he believes in his chances of winning. “I’m not a hitman,” he told Politico recently.
His presence in the race will help probe Republican voters’ interest in a candidate who has expressed support for many of Mr. Trump’s policies but has criticized the former president’s conduct.
Mr Christie rejected Mr Trump’s claim that the 2020 election was stolen from him. Instead, he urged the party to move on or risk further setbacks.
Other like-minded Republicans, including former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu, opted out of the race, fearing that having too many candidates in the race can benefit Mr. Trump.