Chris Christie joins 2024 presidential race, targets Trump and DeSantis

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has officially entered the race for the United States presidency in 2024, joining a growing list of Republican candidates. Having filed the necessary paperwork on Tuesday, Christie is set to launch his campaign at an event in New Hampshire. Known as a pragmatic conservative, Christie previously ran for president in 2016 but withdrew after a lacklustre campaign. Current opinion polls place him with only 1-2% of primary voters, making his bid a long shot.

Once a close ally of former President Donald Trump, Christie has since become an outspoken critic of Trump, who is also seeking a return to the White House in 2024. Christie’s change of heart came after Trump attempted to overturn the 2020 election results, which led to the attack on the US Capitol.

“We keep losing and losing and losing,” Christie said of Republicans last year after the party’s underwhelming performance in the midterm elections. “And the fact of the matter is, the reason we’re losing is because Donald Trump has put himself before everybody else.”

As he prepared to enter the 2024 race, Christie intensified his attacks on Trump, even calling him Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “puppet”. He has also criticised fellow Republican candidate and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, along with Trump, for their scepticism regarding US support for Ukraine during the ongoing Russian invasion.

Christie’s political career began as a federal prosecutor in New Jersey, where he oversaw several high-profile cases. He was elected governor in 2009 and won re-election four years later. However, his presidential aspirations and political standing suffered in 2014 due to the “Bridgegate” scandal, which involved traffic jams on a busy bridge to New York City as alleged retribution for a New Jersey mayor who refused to endorse Christie. The former governor denied any knowledge of the scheme, but two officials linked to him were later sentenced to prison over the scandal.

The race for the Republican nomination is still largely seen as a contest between Trump and DeSantis. However, with the first primaries months away and Trump facing legal issues, including criminal charges in New York, outsider candidates like Christie hope to gain popularity heading into 2024. Other Republican contenders include former Vice President Mike Pence, Senator Tim Scott, ex-US envoy to the United Nations Nikki Haley, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. The winner of the Republican nomination will likely face President Joe Biden, who is seeking re-election, in the general elections in November 2024.