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LOS ANGELES.–Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, 62, went out the 2024 with a whimper, just like he did in 2016, when he wholeheartedly backed 77-year-old former President Donald Trump. Morphing from Trump sycophant to a sour grapes critic, Christie disappointed the never-Trump mob when he called it quits January 11. Christie got no traction, like he did in 2016, because he’s not taken seriously by the public largely because of his morbid obesity, but, more importantly, because of his snarky personality. When Christie talks he lectures the crowd, sounding more like a Mafia boss than a politician looking to win votes. When all was said and done, the brash-talking Christie whimpered away from the 2024 campaign, talking like he would continue ripping the former president, saying everywhere he wasn’t fit for office because of the 91 indictments against him.

Christie made himself out to be holier-than-thou, on a crusade to stop Trump from running again in 2024. But Christie knows that no one in the 2024 campaign commands the audiences of Trump by a long shot, acknowledging that the former president has refined the art of campaigning to a science. Christie and all other GOP candidates could barely fill a room where Trump fills football stadiums, keeping massive audience entertained. Christie, a former U.S. attorney, knows better than to deny Trump his presumption of innocence until a jury of his peers convicts him of the wild allegations he faces. Christie said repeatedly campaigning that Trump wasn’t fit for office because of the charges against him. Christie knows that the Constitution and rule of law requires all criminal defendants, including Trump, to be given the presumption of innocence.

Christie’s parting shot against the 2024 campaign, and certainly former U.N. Amb. Nikki Haley, was “she’s gonna get smoked . . . she’s not up to this,” meaning she’s not up to the task in the primaries and running for president. Christie also said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was “petrified,” thinking that Christie would endorse Haley. Christie’s 5% polls shows that few people took him or his campaign seriously, realizing he was a one-trick pony, running a fake campaign for the Lincoln Project, never-Trump mob. “I would rather lose by telling the truth than lie in order to win,” Christie said, knowing he has no clout with voters. Christie doesn’t tell the truth about anything, certainly not Trump. His about-face on Trump is one of the most sickening betrayals since Benedict Arnold, not based on principle but on sour grapes for getting passed over by Trump for a Cabinet post.

Christie had a field day getting all the attention in his campaign, not from voters, but from the liberal press, that paraded him around like a pit-smoked boar at a luau. Exploited by the liberal press to attack Trump at every chance, Christie was a favorite on all the liberal TV talk shows. Christie had a fake campaign because he had no shot of every succeeding with such abysmal polls, mostly because GOP voters saw him as a sickening turncoat, joining the liberal media mob to try-and-convict Trump. If Trump beats all 91fake charges, he’ll have rocket fuel heading into the 2024 presidential election. “Because I want to promise you this: I am going to make sure that in no way do I enable Donald Trump to ever be president of the United States again—and that’s more important than my own personal ambition,” Christie said, in another phony statement to the liberal press.

Christie had no shot of becoming the GOP nominee, not because of Trump but because of his failed campaign, where voters practically gagged listening to his repetitive attacks on liberal TV talks shows. Christie was addicted to his own puffery, thinking he could join the anti-Trump mob to speak for voters, not for himself. Whoever backs Trump, they certainly don’t want to be told by Christie how righteous he is to do the bidding of the anti-Trump hordes. “We couldn’t have been any clearer. We couldn’t have been any more—any more direct or worked harder,” Christie said about completing his anti-Trump campaign. Christie, like retiring Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Ut.), became the leading Trump-hater voice, not because he’s sincere but because he’s paid to rip Trump at every opportunity. Christie’s 2024 campaign was a fake as it gets, only paid by the anti-Trump mob to speak out.

No one would be surprised to find out that Christie was actually paid by the Biden campaign’s super-PACs, or some cryptic morphing of campaign funds. Christie paints himself as a heroic figure who lost his campaign because voters couldn’t get behind his anti-Trump message. Christie often chided Haley and DeSantis to join his anti-Trump campaign, demanding that Haley state for the record she would not accept an offer by Trump to be his Vice President. Trump, obviously, would never pick Haley, knowing how, in her own robotic way, she stabbed him in the back. But Christie pounded his rivals to join his failed crusade to denounce Trump. GOP voters aren’t ready to try-and-convict Trump, like Christie, of all 91 felonies, because they see the big picture of the government going after Trump just like they did in 2016, when former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton pushed the Russian hoax.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.