Chris Christie plays down risk to Republicans if Trump loses primary but won't leave the race

Chris Christie plays down risk to Republicans if Trump loses primary but won't leave the race

He argued “the public en masse will begin to ignore” the former president

ByNicholas Kerr

November 26, 2023, 10:10 AM

Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie on Sunday sought to play down the potential consequences if rival Donald Trump loses the 2024 primary race but refuses to concede — or even keeps running as a third-party candidate.

“No one will expect him to concede. He hasn't conceded the 2020 election. Who cares,” Christie, the former governor of New Jersey, told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl.

While Trump maintains a huge lead in national polling of Republican primary voters, he is in a slightly weaker front-runner position according to surveys in Iowa and New Hampshire, the first two states to vote, where Christie and other challengers are hoping for an upset.

Pressed by Karl on how Trump's continued presence in the race could be an ongoing problem if he loses — like if he loudly contests the results or runs third-party — Christie dismissed that notion, arguing that at that point, “the public en masse will begin to ignore” the former president.

“I think he'll go back to Mar-a-Lago. He'll continue to carp and moan and complain and say we don't deserve him,” Christie said. “Anything that gets him out of this race and keeps him out of the White House is fine by me.”

This is a developing story. Please return for updates.

Related Topics