Former New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie has dropped out of the presidential race with a vow never to let former president, Donald Trump ‘to ever be president again’
“I am going to make sure that in no way do I enable Donald Trump to ever be president of the United States again,” he said
Christie had faced pressure to step aside and allow the party to unify around a viable challenger to Mr Trump.
Even though he did not endorse anyone as he bowed out of the race, the former New Jersey governor, moments before he announced he was ending his bid, predicted that Nikki Haley, who has been gaining on Mr Trump in some polls, was “going to get smoked. She’s not up to this”
He devoted much of his remarks to a plea to Republican voters to reject the former president, who he accused of “putting himself before the people of this country”.
“Donald Trump wants you to be angry every day because he is angry,” he added.
His departure comes five days before the Iowa caucuses, the first of the state-by-state contests in which Republican voters will pick their preferred candidate for president.
The eventual winner will be anointed the Republican nominee in July, before going on to challenge the Democratic nominee which is likely Joe Biden, in the November general election.
Mr Christie was urged to drop out ahead of the second contest this month in New Hampshire, where some surveys indicate Ms Haley could be catching up with Mr Trump.
The north-eastern state has a large faction of unaffiliated voters and has been known to deliver unpredictable results.
The former president’s political action committee said in a statement that he had “already vanquished eight challengers before a single vote has been cast because Republican voters want a strong leader who will reboot our economy, secure our border, make America energy independent again, and keep our families safe”.
This is Mr Christie’s second unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination, after he lost to Mr Trump in 2016.
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