Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) said the 2024 Republican presidential primary “was over” on the night of the first GOP debate in August.
Christie, who ended his own presidential bid last month, told “The View” co-host Joy Behar on Thursday that there was nothing he would’ve changed on the campaign trail, adding that his campaign illustrated how it’s a “really hard job to change a party.” He went on to reflect on the Donald Trump-less debate of six months ago.
“It was the biggest audience we’d ever have. The people, by definition who were watching, were people who were at least willing to consider somebody else. ’Cause if you’re tied to Trump, why would you even watch? He wasn’t there,” said Christie, who endorsed Trump for president in 2016 before becoming a critic.
He continued: “And when six of the eight people on the stage raised their hand and said, ‘I will support him even if he’s a convicted felon,’ what it told the voters was: ‘This is OK. Being a convicted felon’s OK, it’s normal behavior.’”
Christie, prior to the debate, had signed the Republican National Committee’s loyalty pledge to back the party’s eventual nominee, although he’d previously called it a “useless idea” that he’d take “just as seriously” as Trump did in 2016.
During the debate, the former New Jersey governor did not raise his hand and instead shook his finger when candidates were asked if they’d support Trump as the party’s nominee.
Christie spoke to “The View” about the moment and the eventual booing from the debate audience after he criticized Trump, the current GOP front-runner.
“In private, Republicans in the House, in the Senate, governors all say to you, ‘He’s awful, it’s an abomination, it’s gonna be terrible,’” he said. “But none of them have the guts to stand up –– because they love their title more than they love their country.”
“They’re worried about a primary,” Christie said. “They’re worried about him coming out against them, and what they should learn, I think, is that what you’re gonna be really judged for over the long haul is what you stand for ― who you are and what you stand for. And they’re gonna have to live with having been with him.”