Chris Christie Could Cost Nikki Haley the Primary, NH Gov Says: ‘The Only Person That Wants Christie to Stay in Is Donald Trump’

December 31, 2023 @ 2:32 PM

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu told CNN’s Dana Bash on Sunday that Chris Christie’s 2024 campaign for president is “at an absolute dead end.” He added that Christie should do what Sununu saw as the right thing and drop out of the race, in order to give Nikki Haley a chance to defeat Donald Trump for the Republican nomination.

“Chris Christie is a friend but his race is at an absolute dead end,” Sununu said. “There’s no doubt that if Christie stays in the race, the risk is that he takes her margin of the win.”

“It’s between Trump and Nikki Haley,” Sununu said. “Everybody understands that he knows his voters who want to see Trump defeated are all coming over to Nikki Haley. In fact, the only person that wants Chris Christie to stay in the race is Donald Trump.”

He added that Christie has “hit a ceiling” in his campaign since he’s still so focused on Trump. “I know he says he wants to stay in the race to speak the truth about Trump, but [whether] that translates into votes in a primary is a very different thing.” Sununu speculated that if the primary were held today, he doubts that Christie would get any New Hampshire delegates.

“I think he’s going to make the right decision eventually,” Sununu continued, adding that Christie has “overstayed his welcome” and “put his ego first” by remaining in the race.

“Chris Christie isn’t going to make up 30 points in the next few weeks,” the governor added. “Nikki Haley can make up five or 10 points and give Trump that defeat that no one thought was possible in the next few weeks, and I think that’s very likely to happen.”

Bash disputed Sununu’s claim that the GOP nomination is “a two-person race” between Trump and Haley, saying, “But of course it’s not.”