Here Comes Chris Christie! But Why?

Is there a large contingent of the Republican primary electorate yearning for another chance to vote for Chris Christie? Where are they?

Christie seems to think they’re everywhere and he’s about to launch a presidential campaign next week according to reports.

It may seem like we’ve spent a lot of time picking on Christie here, but he’s quite deserving of it. At least Mike Pence has a plausible argument to run for president being the most recent former Vice President on the Republican side.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has the largest backing behind Donald Trump so it makes sense to give it a go. An argument can even be made for Nikki Haley, someone who has spent the past few years enhancing their resume for an eventual presidential run.

Chris Christie, in 2016, finished sixth place in the New Hampshire primary, the only state in which he had a shot.

That and his newfound disgust for Trump are giving him the green light to try again:

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is expected to announce his 2024 Republican candidacy for president next Tuesday in New Hampshire, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Christie, 60, is a former close Trump ally who now calls the former president a “coward” and “puppet of Putin.” He gives traditional Republicans a horse — but seems to have a narrow market in today’s GOP.

Driving the news: Christie is expected to make the announcement at a town hall at Saint Anselm College at 6:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday.

Of course, he’s announcing in New Hampshire, it’s his only possible hope for a primary win.

Does anyone want to tell him? Look closely, you can find “Chris Christie” down near the bottom losing to “Don’t know/Not sure”:

The silver lining for Christie is that he’s exactly one percent ahead of Asa Hutchinson, the former Arkansas Governor that already announced his 2024 candidacy.

Somehow, spending a lot of time in New Hampshire, Christie has convinced himself the nation longs for his brand of leadership:

But Christie has emerged as a vocal critic of Trump, who remains the Republican front-runner in the polls, after the then-president refused to concede his loss to Biden in 2020 and pushed baseless claims of widespread election fraud.

Christie has continued criticizing Trump, especially in his role as a political contributor on ABC News. During a segment on “This Week” earlier this month, Christie argued GOP candidates can’t beat Trump by “cozying up to him.”

Christie’s decision to announce his presidential bid in New Hampshire comes after he has held several town hall meetings in the swing state in the past few months.

What more is there to say about Christie? He grossly miscalculated his political career since passing on a presidential run in 2012. Then, in 2016, he fizzled out against Trump but did manage to take down Marco Rubio in the process.

It’s been years since Christie was remotely relevant but he’s gonna have a go of it again.