Chris Christie Says He Will Announce A Decision On Running Before June

Topline

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie will announce a decision on running for president within the “next 45 to 60 days,” he told the Washington Examiner in a mid-March interview where he criticized his ex-friend, former President Donald Trump, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, as the two top contenders for the GOP nomination ramp up their political activity ahead of next year’s presidential election.

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie speaks at the Republican Jewish Coalition Annual … [+] Leadership Meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada, on November 19, 2022. (Photo by Wade Vandervort / AFP) (Photo by WADE VANDERVORT/AFP via Getty Images)

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Key Facts

Donald Trump: The former president announced his entry into the race a week after the November election on wounded footing as prominent GOP members blamed him for a string of midterm election losses that left the party with a slimmer-than-expected majority in the House, but he maintains broad support among those who voted for him in previous elections.

Mike Pence: The former vice president, while traversing the country to promote his new memoir, So Help Me God, has left open the possibility of a presidential run, and recently made a firm rebuke of his former boss before journalists and politicos at Washington’s annual Gridiron dinner: “History will hold Donald Trump accountable for January 6 . . . President Trump was wrong. His reckless words endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol that day,” he said.

Ron DeSantis: Unlike Trump, the midterm election was a boon to the Florida governor, who won a second term by a wide margin and became the first GOP candidate in 20 years to win Miami-Dade County, and while he is unlikely to announce before the Florida legislative session ends in May, he began a multi-state tour in February that looks very much like a precursor to a presidential campaign.

Chris Christie: The ex-Trump ally turned critic, who is weighing a second run for the GOP nomination after dropping out of the 2016 primary race, told the Examiner Trump regularly “let [the GOP] down,” referring to a string of election offices under the former president, and rebuked DeSantis for his comments against the U.S.’s support of Ukraine in it’s war with Russia; Christie will also travel to the early nominating state of New Hampshire on March 27 to speak at Saint Anselm College.

Nikki Haley: After vowing not to run against Trump, the former South Carolina governor became his first official challenger in February, calling for a “new generation of leadership” in a video announcement, while attacking President Joe Biden’s “abysmal record” and noting that Republicans have lost the popular vote in seven out of the last eight elections, but Haley is polling at a low 3% among potential 2024 GOP presidential candidates, according to a January Morning Consult poll.

Vivek Ramaswamy: Less than a week after Haley announced her campaign, the 37-year-old investment firm manager—who made Forbes’ list of America’s richest entrepreneurs under 40 in 2016 with a net worth of $600 million at the time—entered the fray with a video announcement in which he dubs “covidism, climatism and gender ideology” as “new secular religions,” a statement that builds on what he calls an “anti-woke” message detailed in his 2021 book, “Woke, Inc.”

Tim Scott: The South Carolina senator has made key hires for a super-PAC in support of his political ambitions, Axios reported in February, and visited Iowa on February 22 as part of a multi-state tour to promote a political message of unity and optimism.

Mike Pompeo: Also out with a new book titled Never Give an Inch: Fighting for the America I Love, the former secretary of state told CBS in January he would decide on a 2024 presidential bid in “the next handful of months.”

Asa Hutchinson: Hutchinson, who served eight years as governor of Arkansas until the end of last year, recently told CBS he would likely make a decision about running for president in April and has been a vocal critic of Trump’s role in the January 6 Capitol riots, going as far to say it “disqualifies” him from running again.

Chris Sununu: The New Hampshire governor raised the prospects of a possible 2024 run on Sunday, telling CBS News’ Face the Nation host Margaret Brennan on Sunday that it would be “an opportunity to change things,” after recently taking steps to solidify his political future with the launching of a new super-PAC.

Glenn Youngkin: He raised his national profile campaigning for GOP candidates during the 2022 midterm election, but the Virginia governor has remained noncommittal on a run for president, telling NBC News in January he is “humbled” by talk of a potential candidacy and remains “so focused” on his current role.

Big Number

55%. That’s the percentage of GOP voters who said they would vote for Trump to be the nominee in a 2024 primary, compared to 25% for DeSantis and 8% for Pence, according to a February Emerson College poll.

Key Background

Confirmed and potential contenders began to ramp up their political activity in February. Pence and DeSantis both spoke at the Club for Growth’s annual gathering of heavyweight donors in early March, while Trump was snubbed from the event over a feud with the club that began during the 2022 primaries. He instead headlined the Conservative Political Action Conference, which Pence and DeSantis did not attend. Trump and DeSantis visited Iowa within days of each other in early March and are expected to accelerate their cross-country travels in the coming months. While DeSantis has shied away from criticizing Trump, the former president has adopted the nickname “Ron DeSanctimonious” to refer to his former protege and has attacked him for his Covid-19 shutdown policies and his support for Medicare and Social Security reforms.

What To Watch For

If Trump will face charges in five ongoing law enforcement investigations against him and whether they will affect his standing as a candidate. A Manhattan Grand Jury investigating his role in payments made to Stormy Daniels in exchange for silence about her alleged 2016 affair with Trump reportedly sought his testimony in early March, indicating an indictment could be forthcoming. Separately, the New York Attorney General is investigating his family business practices. The Justice Department has two ongoing probes into Trump’s role in the January 6 insurrection, along with his handling of classified documents he took to Mar-A-Lago after leaving office. The Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney’s office is also investigating Trump’s role in attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state.

Tangent

Pence is also facing a Justice Department probe over his handling of classified documents after leaving office. Approximately 13 documents with classified markings were discovered by Pence’s lawyers and FBI agents at his Carmel, Indiana, home in January. The federal government collected more than 300 documents with classified markings in total from Trump after he left office, including more than 100 classified documents turned over to the National Archives in January last year, another batch investigators collected from Mar-A-Lago in June 2023 and the records seized in an FBI raid at Mar-A-Lago on August 8. President Joe Biden, who is expected to announce a re-election bid in the coming months, is also facing a Justice Department investigation into his handling of classified documents after more than two dozen records with classified markings were found in Biden’s possession between November and January in searches by the FBI and his personal attorneys.