Exit of Donald Trump critic Chris Christie shakes up Republican primary race

Chris Christie dropping out of the race for the Republican presidential nomination has caused a sudden shift in the competition, altering the situation just a few days prior to the voting in Iowa and New Hampshire.

The previous governor of New Jersey expressed the most vocal and intense opposition towards the leading candidate, Donald Trump, in the competition. He made known his withdrawal from the race on Wednesday, and this could potentially improve the chances of Nikki Haley.

Haley, who was the US ambassador to the UN in the past and has similar beliefs to Christie, has made progress against Trump. In a few states where early voting has started, like Iowa and New Hampshire, she has moved ahead of the other candidates and is now in second place.

Assuming that the majority of Christie's supporters move towards Haley, it is likely to give an extra boost to her campaign.

Haley expressed to Fox News that the contest has narrowed down to just her and Donald Trump. Despite others underestimating them, she shared that they are continuously making progress and have a purpose for doing so.

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However, it's a challenging feat for Haley and Florida's governor Ron DeSantis to surpass Trump's significant lead for the Republican nomination. They engaged in a name-calling match during a televised debate in Iowa on Wednesday, but this event had little effect on their rankings in the race.

The state of Iowa is scheduled to kick off the initial process of choosing a nominee on Monday. Recent polling averages from FiveThirtyEight indicate that Trump is maintaining a steady lead of 35 percentage points over Haley, who is now ahead of DeSantis for second place. Moving on to New Hampshire, where the primary is set to take place on January 23, Trump currently holds a 12 percentage point lead over Haley.

For several weeks, Christie was under a lot of pressure to drop out of the race so that Haley could have a better chance. When he declared that he was quitting his bid, he vowed that he wouldn't do anything that could help Donald Trump become the US president again.

The pugnacious and tough-talking person didn't support Haley on the particular night. In reality, Christie and his advisers expressed their negative opinions about her ability to beat Trump. Before the event where he announced his exit from the race, Christie was caught speaking with his advisers using a hot microphone, saying that she had no chance of winning against the former president.

Wayne MacDonald, who is the chair of the Christie campaign in New Hampshire and was present during the conversation, stated to the Financial Times that he doesn't believe she deserves the title of the contemporary Joan of Arc that she's being hailed as.

The people suggesting that Nikki Haley should already start scripting her Milwaukee speech are jumping the gun. The road ahead is long, and Donald Trump still holds a firm grip on his position. Based on all of this, I cannot imagine a scenario where Haley surpasses him.

The Trump team shared a memo from their pollster, John McLaughlin, which noted that Governor Christie backing out might not benefit Haley and instead become a disadvantage.

The statement suggests that if the individual's exit from the race was intended to benefit Nikki Haley, it would only make the primary election more divisive. This would pit those who support President Trump's conservative policies against those who align with Haley's political background in Washington D.C.

There was a lot of tension between Christie and Haley, mainly because Christie felt like she was pressuring him to drop out of the race.

MacDonald stated that Christie decided on his own to depart, but also suggested that there may be some dissatisfaction involved.

You shouldn't harass a person from New Jersey. Some people tried to intimidate him so he would drop out of the competition. On social media yesterday evening, several individuals who support Haley claimed that they were triumphant in their efforts and had forced him out.

David Tamasi, a supporter of Christie and a political donor, isn't showing immediate support for Haley. Instead, he wants to wait and see how the election unfolds. Tamasi believes that the former president remains a strong contender, and it's up to the other candidates to see if they can make the race more competitive in both Iowa and New Hampshire.

Haley replied gracefully to the absence of an endorsement and the negative remarks made by Christie. She stated to Fox News that she wasn't surprised as these individuals have been making such comments since the start.

However, Christie's more profound critique of Haley and the other competitors of Trump may prove to be challenging to overcome. He accuses them of being too timid in their criticism of the former president since they fear upsetting his supporters.

Christie frequently reminisces about the occasion when Haley and DeSantis raised their hands in a Republican debate last year in response to whether they would back Trump if he secured the nomination, despite facing a conviction in court.

During his goodbye event on Wednesday, Christie declared that anyone who can't admit they're not suitable to be the president of the United States is inadequate for the role. He added that he would prefer to lose by telling the truth than winning through deceitful means.

The Republicans with the strongest opposition towards Trump were ecstatic when Christie dropped out of the race. They believed his participation was essential in directly confronting the former president.

Charlie Sykes, who is an editor-at-large for The Bulwark website and a former conservative talk show host, wrote that Christie was an impressive animal even though he was flawed, maddening, and annoying until the very end.

However, Trump and his supporters showed a strong disregard for the contribution Christie had in the Republican competition. "Chris Christie didn't have any support," said JD Vance, a senator from Ohio, in an interview with Fox News.