Chris Christie announced he’s running for president in 2024, attacking Donald Trump, Jared Kushner, and Ivanka Trump. From Bridgegate to his beach infamous jaunt, there are lots of reasons Christie can’t win, but his campaign will be fun to watch.
Chris Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, officially launched his 2024 presidential campaign on Tuesday night. This raised a lot of questions, like “What is Christie thinking?” and “Who asked for this?” While I can’t speak to the former question, the answer to the second is it’s me, Margaret. As one of the dozens of Americans who’s pumped for the Christie 2024 campaign, allow me to explain my reasons for supporting him (in spirit — I can’t actually vote in a GOP primary).
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I have a soft spot for tough-talking tristate Republicans.
As a child growing up on Long Island in the ’90s, then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani was a comforting presence on the local TV news. In light of recent events, this seems insane. But “America’s Mayor” primed me to feel a swell of relief and regional pride anytime a moderate tristate Republican pops on a windbreaker and takes charge of a crisis, or rudely dresses down a constituent in the name of keeping it real.
Chris Christie was the platonic ideal of this sort of politician. He didn’t just politely implore his constituents to follow evacuation orders before Hurricane Irene, he told them to “get the hell off the beach.” He regularly berated hecklers without spilling whatever foodstuff he was holding at the time.
Chris Christie: Gets in the face of a heckler while protecting the precious nachos. #Strong pic.twitter.com/O0gUczmTBE— Tim Young (@TimRunsHisMouth) July 31, 2017
And after Superstorm Sandy, he staged a bipartisan windbreaker moment so powerful that it got Barack Obama reelected (allegedly).
Should I be impressed by all this amusing bluster? Probably not. But hey, I tell it like it is.
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Christie’s campaign makes me feel nostalgic.
Speaking of the phrase “Tell it like it is,” Christie is reusing that theme from his failed 2016 campaign. While the 2024 campaign’s official slogan is “Because Truth Matters,” the super-PAC supporting his new bid is called Tell It Like It Is, and his campaign website prominently features this line: “The Truth Matters. Chris Christie believes in it, champions it, and isn’t afraid to tell it like it is.”
Christie isn’t just recycling rhetoric from his last campaign. In the 2016 race, he went all-in on New Hampshire, only to drop out after finishing sixth in the first-in-the-nation primary. As CNN put it at the time, “wounding” Marco Rubio during a debate at Saint Anselm College “would be the extent of his accomplishments in New Hampshire.”
Christie clearly wants to remind people of his 2016 campaign’s sole high point; he announced his 2024 bid at the same college where he trounced Rubio.
