When former President Donald Trump opted not to participate in the 2024 presidential primary debates, it was at least in part due to his inability to honestly sign a Republican National Committee pledge to support whichever candidate ultimately received the party’s nomination.
As it turns out, another candidate who made his way on stage for each of the first four debates has no intention of honoring his promise on the matter.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who has attracted the support of a tiny sliver of the GOP with a virulently anti-Trump message, confirmed in a recent MSNBC interview that he would violate his pledge if the current front-runner clinches a third-straight GOP presidential nomination.
“If it’s Biden versus Trump in the fall, would you vote for Donald Trump?” asked host Mike Barnicle.
Christie quickly answered with a “no” before shifting into a diatribe about Republican politicians who dare to support the former president ahead of his bid for a second term in the White House.
He claimed that such individuals only do so out of fear or ambition.
“The fear part of it is that all of them treasure their titles,” Christie said. “And so, they treasure their titles more than they treasure the honor that’s given to them by the people who actually have those 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.”
Calling out his primary rivals Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis by name, he insisted that they were only standing by their pledge due to their political ambitions.
As Christie was preparing to launch his long-shot presidential bid, Fox News host Sean Hannity offered a scathing critique of the former governor’s intentions.
2024 National Republican Primary:
Trump 62% (+49)
Haley 13%
DeSantis 10%
Ramaswamy 6%
Christie 4%.@Suffolk_U/@USATODAY, LV, 12/26-29https://t.co/FGhb1zqlVU
— Political Polls (@Politics_Polls) January 1, 2024
“I have no problem giving airtime to any of the candidates who want to come on and give their point of view,” he said in June. “But I’m looking at Chris Christie, he left office as governor of New Jersey — 13% approval rating, 14% in another poll — and I’m looking at this and I’m saying, ‘OK, you’re only getting in this race because you hate Donald Trump and want to bludgeon Donald Trump.”
