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LONDONDERRY, N.H. – Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says he is “disillusioned” that he did not land the endorsement of New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu within the Republican presidential nomination race.
However Christie mentioned that Sununu’s backing former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley within the state that holds the primary major and second total contest within the GOP presidential nominating calendar “doesn’t change my technique right here one bit.”
And he pushed again on Sununu’s suggestion that Christie and Haley’s different Republican White Home rivals ought to get out of the race, telling Fox Information Digital that “I’m not going anyplace, so let’s be actually clear about that.”
Christie made his feedback as he took questions from reporters following a city corridor Wednesday night time in Londonderry, New Hampshire. Christie returned to the Granite State on the identical day that Sununu was persevering with to marketing campaign with Haley throughout New Hampshire after endorsing her the earlier night.
SUNUNU ON HALEY’S 2024 RIVALS: ‘I THINK THEY SHOULD ALL GET OUT’
Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire (proper) endorses former ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, at a marketing campaign occasion in Manchester N.H. on Dec. 12, 2023 (Fox Information – Paul Steinhauser)
Sununu, a preferred Republican governor who’s gained election and re-election to 4 two-year phrases as governor within the essential northeastern battleground state, had mentioned for weeks that his endorsement would come right down to Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and Christie, who he is recognized for over a decade.
Haley has been rising within the polls the previous couple of months and is presently in second place within the surveys in New Hampshire, far behind former President Donald Trump, who stays the commanding front-runner for the GOP nomination as he makes his third straight White Home run.
‘WE’RE ALL IN’ – SUNUNU BACKS HALEY IN MAJOR 2024 ENDORSEMENT
Christie, who’s repeating his technique from his unsuccessful 2016 Republican presidential run of inserting all his chips in New Hampshire, stands in third place in Granite State polls, a few factors behind Haley.
“I’d have been joyful to just accept his assist,” Christie mentioned of Sununu.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a 2024 Republican presidential candidate, headlines a city corridor in Londonderry, New Hampshire on Dec. 13, 2023. (Fox Information – Paul Steinhauser)
However he downplayed the importance of the Sununu endorsement, arguing that “I’d have recognized precisely what it meant. It meant one vote. And it could have been good to hold round with him, and we might have completed a buddy present like he and Nikki are doing, however ultimately, these voters should not going to be advised by anyone who to vote for.”
“I’m disillusioned. I’m not going to be silly about it. It’s disappointing to not get it however however, it doesn’t change my technique right here one bit,” he highlighted.
CHRISTIE UPS HIS GAME IN A KEY PRIMARY STATE
Requested after endorsing Haley on Tuesday if Christie ought to drop out of the race, Sununu advised Fox Information that “I’m behind Nikki Haley. I believe they need to all get out frankly, together with former President Trump. I believe everybody ought to form of clear the way in which.”
However he acknowledged “they’re going to maintain campaigning.”
A day later, Fox Information Digital requested Christie about Sununu’s feedback.
“He ought to know higher,” Christie responded. “It’s not his job to inform anyone when to get out. He can assist whomever he likes, nevertheless it’s not his job to inform anyone when it’s time to get out of the race. That’s a person option to make and I’m not going anyplace, so let’s be actually clear about that.”
An evening earlier, Sununu advised Fox Information that he had not given both Christie or DeSantis a heads-up that he was going to endorse Haley.
“I realized about it on-line,” Christie advised Fox Information. “That’s not the way in which I’d have completed it however everyone has to account for their very own sense of what represents integrity and what doesn’t.”
Christie spoke with reporters after taking questions for greater than an hour and a half from the gang in a jam-packed American Legion submit on this Republican-leaning city.
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The previous New Jersey governor took purpose at Haley early and infrequently in the course of the city corridor, beginning with what he referred to as her “phrase salad” solutions with regards to the flamable subject of abortion. Later within the city corridor he accused her of “political pandering.”
“The voters on this state have a proper to know the place she stands. Not simply her joyful discuss. They’ve a proper to know the place she stands,” Christie advised reporters after the city corridor.
And he charged that Haley’s “unwilling to do it. She needs to be every thing to everyone on that subject [abortion]. It’s too necessary a problem, it’s too private a problem, and it’s too critical a problem to not reply it instantly. I’ve answered it instantly. She hasn’t.”
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Chris Christie (heart), a 2024 Republican presidential candidate, and his spouse Mary Pat (proper), be a part of the Salvation Military for bell ringing at a grocery store in Londonderry, New Hampshire, on Dec. 13, 2023 (Fox Information – Paul Steinhauser)
Sununu’s a lot coveted endorsement was a disappointment for DeSantis, however he is concentrating most of his time and assets in Iowa, whose Jan. 15 caucuses kick off the GOP nominating calendar.
Nevertheless it’s far more of a setback for Christie, who together with Haley is aiming for a powerful end in New Hampshire.
Veteran Republican strategist Matthew Bartlett famous that “Christie is planting the flag in New Hampshire and to have the governor of the state, who clearly likes him and has an affinity for him, go along with another person and affirm that another person has a a lot better pathway, if that is your solely state, it is virtually inconceivable, not simply in New Hampshire however nationwide, to get the nomination.”
“He is acquired to look within the mirror,” Bartlett mentioned of Christie.
Neil Levesque, the chief director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm Faculty, mentioned that the Sununu endorsement “doesn’t assist Chris Christie, and it’s actually a blow to his marketing campaign.”
However he added that “I do not assume it adjustments the truth that he will marketing campaign right here in New Hampshire and search the votes, and also you by no means know what is going on to occur.”
State Rep. Wayne MacDonald, a former state GOP chair who heads Christie’s steering committee in New Hampshire, advised Fox Information that “actually we’d a lot choose to have Gov. Sununu on board with us than with Gov. Haley.”
However he emphasised that “endorsements are good however I believe there’s loads of hype hooked up to them. With all due respect to Gov. Sununu, I do not assume it is a game-changer.”
Get the newest updates from the 2024 marketing campaign path, unique interviews and extra at our Fox Information Digital election hub.
Paul Steinhauser is a politics reporter primarily based in New Hampshire.
Was Chris Christie the most important loser as New Hampshire Gov. Sununu endorsed Nikki Haley?
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