Chris Christie’s relentless attacks on Marco Rubio during the 2016 Republican presidential primary that effectively knocked the Florida senator out of the race was at the time likened to a “murder-suicide.”
Now news that the former New Jersey governor is considering launching another longshot presidential bid has fueled speculation that Christie could be on another such mission, only this time, his target would be former President Donald Trump, The Washington Post reports.
The Post’s Aaron Blake writes that despite abysmal poll numbers, “signs are building that Christie will again decide to run for president at what is decidedly the wrong time — even more than 2016 was. And while he has insisted this isn’t just a kamikaze mission to take down Donald Trump, it’s difficult to see how it could amount to much else.”
“Despite Christie’s insistence, there is no question that he has motivation to go there, that he’s demonstrated a talent for going there, and that he increasingly is going there.”
Christie would have motive to take out the former president.
The two men have complicated history, Blake writes, noting that Christie’s early endorsement of Trump after he dropped out of the 2016 race “was really the first big one to lend Trump mainstream credibility.”
Christie was passed over for the vice presidency and unceremoniously dumped from his role leading Trump’s transition team.
Blake writes “It was at this point that the cracks in their alliance began to form, and they became chasms after Jan. 6, 2021.
“Christie has even blamed Trump for giving him a coronavirus infection that landed him in intensive care in late 2020, and he said Trump never called to check on him.”
Christie has since emerged as one of Trump’s most vocal critics.
Blake writes that “Just last week, Christie called Trump “a puppet of Putin.” He’s targeted Trump over being found liable for sexual assault in the E. Jean Carroll case. He has knocked Trump for being “afraid” of debates. And unlike others, he’s lent credibility to his comments by saying he would never back Trump again.”
For his part, Christie insists that he wouldn’t consider running for president if he didn’t think he could win.
“I’m not a paid assassin,” Christie said in a recent interview with Politico.
“When you’re waking up for your 45th morning at the Hilton Garden Inn in Manchester, you better think you can win, because that walk from the bed to the shower, if you don’t think you can win, it’s hard.”
