This story has been updated with new developments. Chris Christie has dropped out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination just days before the Iowa caucuses. "I've always said that if there came a point in time in this race where I couldn't see a path to accomplishing that goal that I would get out," the former New Jersey governor said at a campaign event in New Hampshire Wednesday, per the New York Times. "It's clear to me tonight that there isn't a path for me to win the nomination, which is why I'm suspending my campaign tonight for president of the United States." Christie was speaking hours before rivals Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis were due to take part in the fifth GOP debate, which he didn't qualify for.
Christie's campaign had struggled to make headway in the polls but the AP describes the move as a surprise, given that Christie had staked the success of his campaign on New Hampshire's Jan. 23 primary and had insisted as recently as Tuesday that he wasn't planning to drop out. "I would be happy to get out of the way for someone who is actually running against Donald Trump," Christie said Tuesday, per Politico, arguing that rivals including Haley weren't going after the former president like he was. On Wednesday he said that anybody unwilling to describe Trump as unfit to be president was unfit themselves.
Sources tell NBC News that Christie isn't expected to endorse another candidate at this time, though his exit will likely boost Haley among the moderate New Hampshire Republican voters both campaigns had targeted. A CNN poll this week found that Trump had the support of 39% of likely Republican primary voters in New Hampshire, with Haley at 32% and Christie at 12%. The poll found that Haley was the second choice of around two-thirds of Christie voters, enough to put her in first place with Christie's exit. (More Chris Christie 2024 stories.)
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