Why Is Chris Christie Bidding To Be Anti-Trump In 2024 After Being A Trump Ally

Chris Christie, who was the first prominent Republican to endorse Donald Trump in 2016, is reportedly bidding to be anti-Trump in 2024.

According to Chris Cillizza, Christie is going through an attempted reinvention. While Christie 1.0 was the New Jersey governor who was touted as the future of the Republican Party, Christie 2.0 was as an ally of Trump. Christie's third version is apparently a return to Christie 1.0, who is a Republican willing to publicly slam party leaders, namely Trump.

Christie recently took to Twitter following Trump's praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin as a "genius." He did not mention Trump directly in his tweet, but it's quite clear that he was talking about his ex-political ally. Christie asked how can anyone with any understanding of the world call "Putin's decision to invade Ukraine 'genius' and 'very savvy' as we watch him unite the rest of the world against Russia in nearly an instant?"

According to Christie, the Russian leader has two choices now. One is an "unwinnable occupation of Ukraine after leveling the country and murdering its hero President (if that is even achievable) or a humiliating retreat." Christie said, "Yeah, that's 'genius' and 'very savvy' alright."

According to Huffington Post, his comments came after Trump dubbed Putin’s initial description of his invading Russian forces as peacekeepers a “genius” move.

Christie's Russia critique is the latest sign of his increased willingness to call out the former US President. He also blamed Trump for the Jan. 6 US Capitol riot that happened last year. He said that he thinks everything that Trump was "saying from Election Night forward incited people to that level of anger." Christie's breaking point with Trump was the false claims of 2020 election being stolen.

Cillizza noted that two questions immediately come to mind. One is if there is a sizable chunk of Republican voters who want someone in 2024 Presidential election who is running against Trump, the other is if Christie is in the running to be that person? The former New Jersey Governor had earlier teased a possible 2024 run while blasting Trump for spreading lies about the 2020 election, reported Business Insider.