He went up against Donald Trump in the 2016 GOP presidential primary and lost. Then he endorsed Trump and became head of the transition team after Trump won. Then, he became a Trump critic, escalating his rhetoric to call the former president a "child" and a "puppet of Putin."
Now, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is ready to take on Trump again, planning an announcement Tuesday in New Hampshire. A Super PAC called "Tell it Like It Is" recently filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to promote a Christie run.
"Chris Christie is a proven leader who fearlessly tells it like it is. As a successful governor in a blue state with a track record of real accomplishments, Christie has consistently confronted challenging issues head-on, making difficult decisions without hesitation," the group's website says.
"To ensure a conservative Republican victory in the 2024 presidential election, we deserve an open, honest debate that focuses on critical issues. Governor Christie's voice at the debates will ensure our party engages in the robust, direct, truth-telling conversation we need to start winning again."
Axios was first to report Christie's plans.
As a GOP governor of blue New Jersey from 2010-18, Christie was known for his blunt rhetoric – for example, exhorting Garden Staters to "get the HELL off the beach" when a storm was approaching – and for sometimes working with Democrats. He notably hosted former President Barack Obama for a survey of his state after Hurricane Sandy hit, and praised the Democratic president for his help.
But after his own 2016 campaign for president faltered, Christie left the race and embraced Trump, delivering the first high-profile, establishment Republican endorsement of an outsider candidate who had been given low chances of winning early in the race.
"There is no one who is better prepared to provide America with the strong leadership that it needs, both at home and around the world, than Donald Trump,” said Christie then, handing Trump a critical endorsement.
Trump ousted Christie as transition team leader and put him in a vice-chairman role behind Vice President Mike Pence.
Since Trump left office, Christie has grown increasingly critical of the former president, saying during a testing-the-waters visit to New Hampshire in March that Trump had pulled the party into a "sinkhole of anger and retribution.”
Christie also ridiculed Trump after the former president, after being held liable for sexual abuse of advice columnist E. Jean Carroll and ordered to pay her $5 million, claimed he didn't even know Carroll.
"His response, to me, was ridiculous, that he didn't even know the woman. I mean, you know, how many coincidences are we going to have here with Donald Trump, Brian? I mean, he must be the unluckiest SOB in the world," Christie told Fox News.
Christie's entry into the race adds a Trump critic to the field but also dilutes the competition for the former president, who is leading in primary polls. In most GOP primary states, delegates are awarded on a winner-take-all basis, meaning Trump could secure a state's entire delegate count with just a plurality of the vote.
Christie acknowledged recently in New Hampshire that he had misread the race in 2016 and allowed Trump to secure the nomination.
"We all made a strategic error," Christie said at an event in Manchester. "I'm happy to own my mistakes. We all kind of thought, 'don't go after him,'" but that didn't work out, Christie said. "It was over, It was over so quick, so that was a strategic error."
