Election News: Christie Exits, DeSantis-Haley Debate, and Trump’s Town Hall

There are a lot of storylines happening in the 2024 GOP primary right now to focus on any single event. Here’s a rundown and comment on the past 24 hours of election headlines.

Christie’s Hot Mic Exit

Earlier in the day on Wednesday, before the GOP debate and Trump’s town hall, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie announced unceremoniously that he was exiting the presidential race and dropping out. The news came coupled with a hot mic moment from Christie where he said Nikki Haley is going to get smoked and DeSantis is “petrified” of something.

For once, Christie speaks the truth:

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was heard on a hot mic predicting that Nikki Haley is “gonna get smoked” in the race against Donald Trump, shortly before Christie bowed out of the contest in a move widely seen as boosting Haley’s campaign.

The hot mic comment from Christie was quickly touted by Trump, the clear GOP frontrunner, as well as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Each have battled to blunt Haley’s momentum in the race before the Iowa caucuses on Monday and the New Hampshire primary later this month.

“I mean look, she’s spent like $68 million so far, just on TV — spent $68 million so far — $59 million by DeSantis, and we spent $12 [million]. I mean, who’s punching above their weight and who’s getting a return on their investment, you know?” Christie was heard saying in the audio. “And she’s gonna get smoked. And you and I both know it. She’s not up to this.”

Remember, this is Chris Christie, the guy who claims to always say what he thinks up front and never hold back from telling the truth to voters. That facade died a long time ago and his campaign is just catching up. This race didn’t need Christie’s whiny anti-Trump tirades at every debate and it certainly didn’t need his holier-than-thou attitude toward the rest of the candidate field.

Here’s the accompanying hot mic audio. Everyone is wondering what DeSantis is petrified about as the feed finally cuts off before Christie can unleash more truth bombs on the GOP field:

BREAKING: Chris Christie is caught on a hot mic

Says Nikki Haley is "gonna get smoked" and Ron DeSantis called him "petrified" about Iowapic.twitter.com/m7mlDB7so4

— Jack Poso ?? (@JackPosobiec) January 10, 2024

As Trump noted, the bigger story is Christie’s hot mic moment, not that he’s dropping out since no one cares.

The Ron and Nikki Variety Hour

There was a debate Wednesday night which you can watch in full available here if you missed it. The only candidates on stage were Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley. The event seemed rather petty as both candidates spent the full time attacking each other and basically ignoring Trump as the front-runner.

Here’s a short highlight reel courtesy of Politico/YouTube:

Sure, there were comments now and then from Haley about being the “new generation” of leadership that America needs, but not much in the way of landing any serious blows. At this point, both are auditioning for a spot on the 2028 slate of potential GOP candidates when Trump finally does exit the political stage.

At the end of the debate, the only clear winner was Trump, as reported in this quote by USA Today:

With a close to 50% lead in most Iowa polls, Trump’s fate in the caucuses appeared sealed well before his competitors took the stage. But neither did enough to counter the president, experts told USA TODAY.

“No clear winner, except for the guy not on the stage,” Jimmy Centers, a GOP strategist based in Iowa, said. “He’s the benefactor of this food fight.”

Once again, without Trump on stage, the debate resembles little more than a warm-up act of cover bands desperately hoping to land a gig with a headliner. Haley’s oft-repeated reference to her new website, DeSantisLies.com, started to become a joke by the end of the night. It almost felt like she was channeling her inner Vivek Ramaswamy looking for a prop to wave around on stage.

Trump’s Fox Town Hall

The other event from Wednesday night was Trump’s first live event on Fox News in two years. During the debate time slot, Trump sat down with Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum for a town hall event in Des Moines. The full video is available here if you missed it.

Trump seemed calm, cool, and collected, a stark contrast to the battle raging over on CNN. There wasn’t a lot of news from the night except this exchange over Trump’s possible vice presidential pick:

? TRUMP ON HIS VP PICK: “I can’t tell you that… I mean I know who it’s going to be” pic.twitter.com/yYu6pDGKCn

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) January 11, 2024

He says “I know how it’s going to be” which would indicate he’s settled on a name or has at least shortened the list down to a small handful. It’s unlikely any veepstakes announcement will come until the rest of the field drops out and the primary battle concludes.

As for debates and town halls, this about wraps it up before the Iowa caucuses happen on Monday night. Trump has some events scheduled this weekend along with the rest of the field but we’re almost down to counting hours before the first votes of the 2024 cycle are on the books.