The campaign of Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie fired back at rivals Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley on Friday, accusing the two of keeping their powder dry for 2028 by refusing to criticize former President Donald Trump.
A Christie campaign memo to “donors and stakeholders” argued that the recent consolidation of the GOP field would only strengthen Trump if other White House hopefuls refused to attack him directly.
“They are each trying to do enough to finish second, because they think that will put them as the front-runners four years from now once Trump is out of the picture,” the memo read under a bullet titled, “Running for President … In 2028 .”
“If the field had been cleared for either of them, they would not have risked their shot at second place by disappointing Trump’s staunchest supporters,” the document continued.
The former New Jersey governor, 61, has qualified for each of the first three GOP debates and has made it a point to keep calling out Trump, 77.
Christie has been Trump’s most vocal critic on the campaign trail.AFP via Getty Images
Notably, Christie was the only candidate who said he would not support the former president’s candidacy if he were convicted in the ongoing criminal case against him.
Both DeSantis and Haley have said they would support Trump either way if he were the Republican nominee, but have increased their criticism of the former president as the campaign progresses.
DeSantis, 45, said the former president was “missing in action” from the debate stage, and claimed last month that Trump could not win the general election because his candidacy would only “energize” Democrats to elect President Biden.
DeSantis, Haley and Christie have all qualified for the previous three GOP debates.AP
Haley, 51, argued on Sunday that Trump was followed by “drama and chaos,” but acknowledged that she agreed “with many of his policies.”
The Haley and DeSantis campaigns did not immediately respond to inquiries from The Post about Christie’s attacks.
Christie has gone out of his way to face Trump directly in the debate and claimed he would try to “find” the former president to talk if that didn’t materialize. Christie also said he would beat Trump in a physical fight and that he would “kick his ass.”
DeSantis and Haley have recently launched attacks on each other as their poll numbers close in. CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Christie’s attacks were aimed at Trump’s two closest GOP rivals — DeSantis is at 14.8%, according to the RealClearPolitics national polling average, while Haley is at 9.6%.
Christie, meanwhile, polled at 2.1% in the national average, lagging behind biotech mogul Vivek Ramaswamy and three front-runners. Christie saw an uptick in support in New Hampshire, where a pair of recent polls showed him in third place behind Trump and Haley.
Despite his low poll numbers, Christie’s memo argues he still has the bandwidth to defeat Trump, who leads by an average of more than 40 points over the entire field.
“Candidates who can clearly distinguish themselves while running efficient, smart campaigns will go far,” the memo said.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
