LONDONDERRY, NH – Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says he’s “disappointed” he didn’t get the endorsement of New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu in the Republican presidential nomination race.
But Christie said Sununu’s supporter, former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley in the state that holds the first primary and second general contest on the GOP presidential nominating calendar is “not changing my approach here one bit.”
And he pushed back against Sununu’s suggestion that Christie and Haley’s other Republican White House rivals should drop out of the race, telling Fox News Digital that “I’m not going anywhere, so let’s be clear about there.”
Christie made his comments as he took questions from reporters following a town hall Wednesday night in Londonderry, New Hampshire. Christie returned to the Granite State the same day Sununu continued to campaign with Haley across New Hampshire after endorsing her the night before.
SUNUNU ON HALEY’S 2024 RIVALS: ‘I THINK THEY SHOULD ALL GO OUT’
Endorsed by Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire (right) is the former ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, at a campaign event in Manchester NH on Dec. 12, 2023 (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Sununu, a popular Republican governor who won election and was re-elected to four two-year terms as governor in the key northeastern battleground, has said for weeks that his endorsement would go to Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and Christie, whom he has known for over a decade.
Haley has been rising in the polls over the past few months and is currently in second place in New Hampshire polls, far behind former President Donald Trump, who remains the frontrunner for the GOP nomination as he seeks his third straight. which is White. House running.
‘WE’RE ALL IN’ – SUNUNU BACKS HALEY IN MAJOR 2024 ENDORSEMENT
Christie, repeating his strategy from his unsuccessful 2016 Republican presidential run of putting all his chips in New Hampshire, is in third place in the Granite State polls, a few points behind Haley.
“I would have been happy to accept his support,” Christie said of Sununu.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a 2024 Republican presidential candidate, leads a town hall in Londonderry, New Hampshire on Dec. 13, 2023. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
But he downplayed the importance of Sununu’s endorsement, arguing that “I wish I knew what it really meant. It meant a vote. And it would have been nice to hang out with him, and we could do a buddy show like him and Nikki does, but in the end, these voters aren’t going to be told who to vote for.”
“I’m disappointed. I’m not going to be stupid about it. It’s disappointing not to get it but on the other hand, it doesn’t change my strategy here one bit,” he highlighted.
CHRISTIE RAISES HIS GAME TO A MAJOR STATE
Asked after endorsing Haley on Tuesday if Christie should drop out of the race, Sununu told Fox News “I’m behind Nikki Haley. way.”
But he admitted that “they will continue to campaign.”
A day later, Fox News Digital asked Christie about Sununu’s comments.
“He should know better,” Christie replied. “It’s not his job to tell anybody when he’s going out. He can support anybody he wants, but it’s not his job to tell anybody when it’s time to leave the race. That’s an individual choice to make and I’m not going to even where, so let’s be clear about that.”
The night before, Sununu told Fox News that he had not given Christie or DeSantis a heads-up that he would endorse Haley.
“I learned about it online,” Christie told Fox News. “That’s not the way I would do it but everyone should consider their own definition of what represents integrity and what doesn’t.”
Christie spoke to reporters after taking questions for more than an hour and a half from the crowd at the main American Legion post in this Republican-leaning town.
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The former New Jersey governor took aim at Haley early and often during the town hall, starting with what he called “word salad” answers when it came to the burning issue of abortion. Later in a town hall she accused him of “political pandering.”
“The voters of this state have a right to know where he stands. Not just his happy talk. They have a right to know where he stands,” Christie told reporters after the town hall.
And he charged that Haley “doesn’t want to do it. She wants to be everything to everyone on that issue. [abortion]. The issue is too important, too personal, and too serious to be answered directly. I answered it directly. He’s not there yet.”
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (center), a 2024 Republican presidential candidate, and his wife Mary Pat (right), join the Salvation Army for a bell ringing at a supermarket in Londonderry, New Hampshire, on Dec. 13, 2023 (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Sununu’s much-anticipated endorsement is a disappointment for DeSantis, but he is focusing most of his time and resources on Iowa, where the Jan. 15 caucuses kick off the GOP nominating calendar.
But this is more than a setback for Christie, who along with Haley is aiming for a strong finish in New Hampshire.
Veteran Republican strategist Matthew Bartlett noted that “Christie is planting the flag in New Hampshire and to have the governor of the state, who clearly likes him and is related to him, go with someone else and prove that the other people have a better path. , if that’s your only state, it’s almost impossible, not just in New Hampshire but across the country, to get the nomination.”
“He needs to look in the mirror,” Bartlett said of Christie.
Neil Levesque, the executive director of the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College, said the Sununu endorsement “doesn’t help Chris Christie, and it’s certainly a blow to his campaign.”
But he added that “I don’t think it changes the fact that he’s going to be campaigning here in New Hampshire and looking for votes, and you never know what’s going to happen.”
State Rep. said. Wayne MacDonald, a former state GOP chair who heads Christie’s steering committee in New Hampshire, told Fox News that “we certainly would rather have Gov. Sununu on board with us than Gov. Haley.”
But he emphasized that “endorsements are good but I think there is a lot of hype attached to them. With all due respect to Gov. Sununu, I don’t think this is a game-changer.”
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