Former New Jersey governor Chris Christie is expected to join the Republican presidential primary in the near future, as his allies form a super PAC to support his race in the increasingly crowded field.
The PAC, Tell It Like It Is, consists of longtime Christie supporters, the New York Times reported. The group is reportedly preparing for an imminent announcement. The former governor would join former president Donald Trump, Florida governor Ron DeSantis, former ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, Sen. Tim Scott (R.,), and others in the Republican race.
Christie "is willing to confront the hard truths that currently threaten the future of the Republican Party," Brian Jones, an aide who advised Mitt Romney in 2012 and will run the pro-Christie PAC, told the Times. "Now more than ever we need leaders that have the courage to say not what we want to hear but what we need to hear."
Christie will likely contrast himself with Trump, with whom he was once a close ally, the Times reported:
Mr. Christie’s candidacy is likely to to focus in part on drawing a stark contrast with former President Donald J. Trump. Mr. Christie supported Mr. Trump in 2016 and worked with him during his presidency, but they split over Mr. Trump’s claims on election night in 2020 that the race was stolen from him.
Mr. Christie has said recently that he would run if he believed he could win, but he had indicated that there were organizational issues he needed to figure out. The existence of the super PAC and the pending announcement suggest those issues have been resolved.
A Christie candidacy is seen as a long shot in a Republican Party that has been remade in Mr. Trump’s image eight years after Mr. Christie first ran for president. Mr. Trump vanquished him, and Mr. Christie dropped out after coming in sixth in New Hampshire, where he had staked his candidacy.