The super PAC backing former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley’s 2024 presidential bid hit former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie Tuesday for his choice to remain in the race.
Christie has staked his campaign on New Hampshire, where he’s running in third behind former President Donald Trump and Haley, according to RealClearPolitics average of polls. Christie dropping out of the race would give Haley a better shot at beating Trump in the Jan. 23 primary election.
“It’s time for voters to tell Christie what we all know, which is that his campaign isn’t stopping anyone and frankly, it’s helping Trump, whom he proudly endorsed in 2016 and supposedly opposes in 2024,” Stand for America Fund, Inc. spokeswoman Brittany Yanick said in a statement.
Christie campaign spokesman Karl Rickett told the Washington Examiner in a statement, “Christie is telling the truth about Trump.”
“Haley is clearly running for second place,” he added, “and we look forward to seeing what Brittany Yanick and her friends have to say when Haley endorses Trump.”
SFA Fund Inc. has spent most of its time going after Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) as Haley fights him for the chance to become the leading Trump alternative. A few criticisms have been lobbed at Trump too. The Christie statement, however, represents a shift for the PAC, which ordinarily doesn’t bother to hit candidates so far behind Haley.
Haley endorser Gov. Chris Sununu (R-NH), who once campaigned beside Christie in his home state, said Tuesday morning, “A vote for @GovChristie is a wasted vote, I’m still hopeful he’ll get out of the race.”
Christie has remained insistent on continuing his long-shot bid, however. His campaign pointed the Washington Examiner recently to the former New Jersey governor’s ad “Some People Say,” in which he addresses calls for him to drop out.
“I’m the only one saying Donald Trump is a liar,” the defiant Christie says in the 30-second spot.
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Despite the growing pressure on him to drop out of the race, Christie has shown no sign of slowing down his campaign schedule in New Hampshire.
Pollsters have noted that the second choice of Christie supporters is often Haley, and if he were to drop out, she would likely receive a needed boost and potentially defeat Trump. In a new University of New Hampshire Survey Center poll, Haley came within seven points of Trump, with 32% to his 39%. Christie received 12% in the same measure.
