Earlier this month, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu nominated Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor, over Chris Christie, a former New Jersey governor and Trump detractor, therefore scuttling Christie’s presidential ambitions.
On Sunday, Sununu basically referred to Christie’s campaign as terminal, twisting the knife.
A friend of mine is Chris Christie. On Sunday, Sununu told CNN’s “State of the Union” that the candidate’s campaign was “at an absolute dead end.”
Christie is banking on his performance in New Hampshire to win over voters there, especially independents who are sick of Trump’s policies. He has been campaigning nonstop across the crucial early voting state, spreading his anti-Trump message. Although Haley is leading the pack by a few points and Trump by over 30 points—the current frontrunner in the state according to a FiveThirtyEight average—Christie is only polling third overall.
“Trump is the only topic Chris is bringing up. That’s it, Sununu declared on Sunday; he’s very much a solo act. He claims he wants to remain in the race so he can tell Trump the truth, but getting votes in a primary is another story, and he’s reached a dead end. Even in New Hampshire, he likely wouldn’t receive any delegates at this point in time.
Christie has been arguing this for six months, and the events of the past several days have only served to reinforce his position. In reaction to Sununu’s remarks on Sunday, a spokesman for Christie’s team told AWN that the truth is important and that solving large problems requires answering simple questions.
Haley fumbled over a question regarding the origin of the Civil War, failing to mention slavery, during Wednesday night’s town hall in New Hampshire. Christie’s reference to “easy questions” follows this. Even though Haley explained her comments in a radio appearance on Thursday morning, the incident nonetheless made news. Some voters seemed unconcerned about the slip-up on Thursday.
Sununu did not explicitly say that Christie should withdraw from the race, but he did say that Christie would “make the right decision eventually.”
Chris Christie will not be able to recover 30 points in the next three weeks, according to Sununu. According to Sununu, Trump is the only one who wants Christie to remain in the race.
