Former Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., said he will decide on a 2024 presidential regardless of former President Donald Trump’s plans.
Christie, during an appearance on the “Ruthless” podcast, said he was “not going to defer to anyone” in deciding whether to make another run for president.
“I’m also not going to be one of these people who’s going to say, ‘Well, I’ll wait to see what President Trump’s going to do.’ You know, I’m not going to defer to anyone if I decide that it’s what I want to do and that I think I’m the best option for the party and for the country,” Christie said on the podcast Tuesday, The Hill reported.
Christie added that deferring to someone during an election shows “weakness and indecision.”
“We’ve already got that in the White House,” said Christie, referring to President Joe Biden.
Christie said that a potential 2024 run would not be affected by his failed 2016 bid for the Republican nomination. He added he will decide whether or not to run after 2022.
The former U.S. Attorney for New Jersey said he wants to try to lead the GOP in a “productive and smart way.”
“What I want to do is to try to lead the party in a productive and smart way for us to continue to argue for populist-type policies,” he said, “but not to be reckless, not to be reckless with our policies, not to be reckless with our language, to be smart about it.”
According to Christie, “recklessness” influenced the last four years under Trump and cost the Republican Party suburban voters, who helped determined the outcome of the 2020 election.
Christie said Republicans need to move on from 2020 and unite against the Biden administration.
“We gotta stop looking in the rearview mirror — 2020 is over,” Christie said. “Look, I don’t know everything that happened in the election, but I know this much: Joe Biden’s living in the White House. He’s signing executive orders, and he’s speaking before join sessions of Congress. He’s the president. And what he’s doing is going to be irreversible if we let it happen.
“Conservatives should be uniting in their opposition to these policies.”
Late last month, news broke that Christie had told friends he was eyeing a 2024 run for president.
According to people close to Christie, the former governor believes having run a previous presidential campaign would make him stand out among the other people, such as Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., who has emerged as a possible contender due to his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christie previously intimated the possibility of running for president.
“Yeah, listen, why not? I’m 56 years old, so you have to see,” he said in a February 2019 interview. “[I] certainly would consider it.”
Last December, Christie said he would “not rule it out” when asked if he would entertain a challenge against Trump in 2024, assuming the former president decides to run.
Christie helped Trump prepare for his 2020 presidential debates against Biden, before contracting COVID-19 after attending debate preparation sessions at the White House.
Following that, Christie called out the administration’s handling of the pandemic. He also said Trump’s actions were an “impeachable offense” following the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
Source: Newmax
