Chris Christie drops out of GOP Prez race

Former Gov. Chris Christie (R-N.J.) yesterday withdrew from the Republican Presidential nomination race for 2024.

Chris Christie takes Parthian shots

Consistent with a pugnacious nature he showed during his term as Governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie took a Parthian shot at President Donald J. Trump. X and YouTube influencer Benny Johnson has embedded video:

But before he made his official dropping-out announcement, Christie also took a Parthian shot at former Gov., Nikki Haley (R-S.C.), which he perhaps didn’t intend. A “hot microphone” picked up his remarks suggesting that she was “not up to this” and would certainly lose.

Christine Laila of The Gateway Pundit provided a partial transcript:

She spent $68 million so far. She’s on tv… $59 million for DeSantis and 12 for us…. She’s gonna get smoked. You and I both know it, she’s not up to this.

Trump currently leads in a WHDH/TV Emerson, N.H. poll with 44 percent of the vote, according to RealClearPolling. The full poll results are as follows:

However, Cassandra McDonald reported an Emerson College poll showing Trump leading Haley 54 percent to 25 percent – in South Carolina

Two guest columnists on RealClearPolitics, including Stan Lockhart, former chair of the Utah Republican Party, suggested two days ago that the New Hampshire Republican Party should adopt ranked-choice voting to award their delegates, “instead of pushing Christie out.” Why those two should so recommend is unclear. New Hampshire will award Republican delegates proportionally to all candidates receiving at least 10 percent of the vote.

Trump took a plurality in the 2016 New Hampshire Primary with 35.2 percent of the vote.

Details from his speech

In his leavetaking, Chris Christie decried the “hate, division, and selfishness of what our Party has become under Donald Trump.” He did not, however, endorse Nikki Haley or any other candidate.

Early voting in the New Hampshire Primary will begin January 16, with Primary Day taking place January 23.