Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey endorsed Donald Trump in the race for Republican presidential nomination on Friday only a few weeks after referring to the New York businessman as "a guy who’s playing make-believe on television" in a town hall meeting in New Hampshire.
Speaking to residents of White Rock Senior Living Community in Bow, N.H., on February 3, Christie recounted an anecdote in which James Gandolfini, the actor famed for his starring role in The Sopranos, had joked with him about his television persona being "all make believe" before pivoting to Trump. "You know it’s all make-believe, right?" Christie said. "The guy who’s running first in the polls. You know it’s all make believe, right? Okay? You know that there’s not really a board room where he and Ivanka and Eric and Donnie sit, right? You know what when he says, ‘You’re fired’, you’re not really fired."
"It’s just not real," he continued. "It’s all for that. It’s all for TV. So here the media says you have three choices. You’ve got the guy who’s playing make-believe on television and two first-term United States senators [Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz] who have never managed anything bigger than a 30-person Senate staff in their lives."
Christie suspended his candidacy for the Republican nomination a week later on February 10 after finishing sixth in the Granite State’s primary.
"I am proud to be here to endorse Donald Trump for president of the United States," Christie said on Friday, according to CNN, adding that the Apprentice star was "the best person to beat Hillary Clinton."
"Generally speaking I'm not big on endorsements," Trump said in response to the endorsement. "This was an endorsement that really meant a lot."