On Wednesday, former New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie, withdrew from the 2024 Republican presidential campaign. Just before doing so, he was caught on a hot mic criticizing his opponent Nikki Haley, and ridiculing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.
Christie was caught on a video feed, which his campaign had promoted, complaining about the current state of the race moments before he announced his decision to suspend his campaign at a town hall meeting in Windham, NH, according to The New York Post.
Christie seemed unaware that his mic was hot at the time.
According to a source familiar with the exchange, DeSantis called Christie to express gratitude for his involvement in the 2024 campaign just before making his announcement. However, Christie used the opportunity to criticize Haley and express his doubts about her capabilities.
Christie also positioned himself as the best candidate to challenge former President Donald Trump, whom he deemed unfit for office. He admitted to having made a mistake by supporting Trump in 2016 and called out Haley and DeSantis for their reluctance to criticize the former president.
During his speech in Windham, Christie mentioned Rep. Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) and Sen. John Barasso (R-Wyo.) as recent Trump endorsers, implying that they should know better.
“From the moment I got into the race, the decision that I made was really simple: I would rather lose by telling the truth than lying in order to win,” Christie said. “And I feel no differently today.”
Christie couldn't resist throwing a few punches at his competitors. He indirectly criticized DeSantis for not disclosing until August's first primary debate that he would back Trump if he were to become the GOP candidate and be convicted in one of the four criminal cases he is facing.