Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R), who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, recently said he will not vote for former President Donald Trump in the general election if the latter Republican wins the GOP nomination — and that if the former were to become president, he would not pardon Trump and would let the 45th president “go to jail.”
Has Chris Christie switched parties yet?
— Sean Thornton (@SeanTho98192182) January 5, 2024
Christie answered, “No,” when the guest host on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” asked Wednesday if he would vote for Trump “if it was Biden versus Trump in the fall.”
The host then asked why other Republicans support Donald Trump with the knowledge of “the damage” he has done to this country. Christie answered that Republicans are motivated to back Trump by a combination of “fear and ambition.”
“It’s an interesting combination of two emotions: Fear and ambition. So the fear part of it is that all of them treasure their titles [ … ] and they don’t want to lose them. And they’re all worried about being primaried by someone who would have Donald Trump’s endorsement,” Christie replied.
“Second, and this is where it applies in both Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis’ position, but most particularly, Nikki — is ambition. It’s the fact that she’s been asked over and over again, in New Hampshire and elsewhere [ … ] would you take the vice presidential nomination with Donald Trump and she wouldn’t answer the question,” Christie added.
Chris Christie: Nikki Haley would “eat glass” to be Trump’s VP pic.twitter.com/pxFFXanFsR
— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) January 3, 2024
Christie’s new stance on voting for Trump goes against a vow he made in December with the Republican National Committee (RNC) and other Republican candidates — the “Beat Biden Pledge” to vote for the eventual nominee decided by the voters in the GOP primary.
Christie had a busy interview schedule Wednesday. When asked if he would pardon Trump should he become president during his appearance on the View, the former New Jersey governor answered, “No [ … ] The person has to accept responsibility for what they did [ … ]You don’t accept responsibility — too bad, go to jail.”
The average of all national Republican primary polls Wednesday showed Christie polling at 3.4%, trailing far behind the former president, who enjoyed a decisive lead in the contest with 61.8% support among likely GOP primary voters.
