Former New Jersey Gov Chris Christie launches Republican presidential bid

NEW YORK (AP):

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has filed paperwork formally launching his bid for the Republican nomination for president ahead of a town hall event in New Hampshire on Tuesday evening.

Christie has cast himself as the only candidate in the field willing to directly take on former President Donald Trump. The campaign will be the second for the former governor and federal prosecutor, who lost to Trump in 2016 and went on to become a close on-and-off adviser before breaking with the former president over his refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election.

Christie enters a growing primary field that already includes Trump, Florida Gov Ron DeSantis, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and US Sen Tim Scott of South Carolina. Former Vice-President Mike Pence will be formally launching his own campaign in Iowa on Wednesday.

Christie, who during his time as New Jersey’s governor established a reputation as a fighter with a knack for creating viral moments of confrontation, faces an uphill battle to the nomination in a party that remains closely aligned with the former president, despite Trump’s re-election loss in 2020 and Republicans’ poorer-than-expected showing in the 2022 midterm elections.

Christie has cast himself as the only person with the guts to take on Trump directly, and has warned of a repeat of 2016 if candidates fail to confront him.

“I’m not dumb. The way to win is to beat the guy who’s ahead. And so what would a campaign look like? A campaign would look like a direct, frontal challenge to Donald Trump trying to return to the presidency,” Christie recently said in a podcast interview.