Chris Christie withdraws from Republican primaries to avoid splitting vote against Trump | International

Chris Christie throws in the towel. The only candidate openly hostile to Donald Trump in the GOP primary race is abandoning his campaign just days before the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary. The battle is easy, which hurts Trump, although the former president has a solid advantage. “I am suspending my campaign for President of the United States,” Christie said at an event with an audience in New Hampshire. He has justified himself by saying that he believes the fact that Trump will never be president again is more important to him than his personal ambitions.

The former New Jersey governor had no chance of actually becoming the nominee. From the beginning, he went against the party’s majority stance devoted to the former president. Criticizing him whenever he could. He was the only one who chose to attack Trump absent in the debate, the leader in the polls, over the rest of the candidates. Christie, a close adviser to Trump in the 206 campaign, was now one of his staunchest critics.

However, his candidacy divided voters who did not want a repeat of Trump. Christie has come under intense pressure to withdraw and unite behind a single option for the party’s anti-Trump vote. He has resisted. He has explained on occasions that he did not want, for example, to recommend Nikki Haley, because he feared that he would look foolish if she later agreed to go with Trump as a vice presidential candidate, as he has always ruled himself out. avoided. This

Former ambassador to the UN and ex-governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley, immediately launched herself to win the support of the retired candidate: “Chris Christie has been a friend of mine for many years. I congratulate you on such a close campaign. Voters have a clear choice in this election: the chaos and drama of the past or a new generation of conservative leadership. I will fight for every vote, so that together we can build a strong and proud United States,” he wrote on the social network X.

Christie’s retraction is a reversal from the position he himself held earlier in the day. “I would be happy to get out of the way in favor of someone who actually runs against Donald Trump,” he explained at that forum, while arguing that none of his rivals have actually moved to do so. “I’m famous enough. I have many titles. “The only reason to do this is to win,” he added. “So if it’s really against Donald Trump I’ll be happy to go out of my way.”

“I have no interest in spoiling for anyone who wants to defeat Donald Trump,” he said. “But if she’s willing to be his vice president, pardon him if he becomes president, vote for him even if she’s a convicted felon… I mean, God, really?” He once said. event on Tuesday in Rochester, New Hampshire.

Join EL PAÍS to follow all the news and read without limits.

Subscribe

Haley, in any case, could benefit the most from Christie’s withdrawal, especially in New Hampshire, where she could have a chance to outdo the former president in the primary. Among those pushing for Christie to retire is New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, who said last week: “She has an opportunity to come in and be a hero, to top Nikki, to give her, to hand that necklace to Trump, Nikki. Te Vijay” in the state primaries, which are held on January 23.

In that, Haley and Christie have more votes combined than Trump. If the only female candidate manages to attract a majority of the now-retired vote, she will have a unique opportunity to add some zest to what Trump looks to win before the battle begins. A CNN poll conducted by the University of New Hampshire published this Tuesday indicated that Trump leads in the voting intentions of likely Republican primary voters in that state with 39%, followed by Haley with 32%, while Christie had 12% support.

Among his party’s voters, however, Christie has only 3.6% of voting intentions. That same Wednesday, he was left out of the face-off between Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis, a duel that emerged as a Trump alternative from within the party.

Christie has repeatedly warned Republican voters against nominating a candidate who has been impeached four times and who could very well be doomed in November’s presidential election. The former New Jersey governor also believes that Trump will lose when pressured to push against President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, because of all the votes he collected against him.

Still, the former governor himself doesn’t believe it’s very possible that his withdrawal will help Haley defeat Trump in the primaries, as some words accidentally slipped into an open microphone this Wednesday reveal. In it he says he is not ready for the task and is going to go up in smoke. As for DeSantis, he is heard saying that he has spoken to him and is “terrified” by his retirement announcement.

A crowded Republican primary, which began with more than a dozen contenders, has been eased before voting begins. Miami’s mayor, Francis Suarez, withdrew after being left out of the first debate, in which eight candidates made the cut. Among them, former Vice President Mike Pence has officially retired; Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina and Governor Doug Burgum of North Dakota. In practice, Asa Hutchinson never counted, so that leaves Trump, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramawami, though the latter is somewhat off the hook.

Follow all international information on Facebook And xor in Our weekly newsletter.