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Former Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is preparing to announce his entrance into the 2024 GOP presidential race “in the coming days,” according to a report.
The report came from “New Hampshire Today” host Chris Ryan on Thursday, who cited “multiple sources with direct knowledge.”
The report notes that the Christie campaign will focus on New Hampshire and have the “financial backing” of billionaire New York Mets owner Steve Cohen.
Hedge fund founder Anthony Scaramucci, who briefly served in the Trump administration, said Wednesday that he plans to back Christie in the GOP primary and also expects Cohen and other Wall Street execs to bankroll the campaign.
Cohen spent millions supporting pro-Christie super PACs during the former governor’s failed 2016 bid for the White House.
Christie has served on the Mets’ board of directors since 2021.
An ex-supporter of former President Donald Trump, Christie has now become a vocal critic of the 76-year-old former commander-in-chief.
During a radio interview earlier this month, Christie accused Trump of being “afraid” to participate in the 2024 primary debates because he would have to “get on the stage against people who are serious.”
Christie also revealed that he has “deep questions” about whether Trump “really cares about the country.”
In another May interview, the former governor argued that Trump getting the nod in 2024 would be “bad for the Republican Party” and that the real estate mogul has no shot at beating President Biden in the general election.
Christie has also taken shots at one of his party’s other top potential 2024 candidates – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
In May, Christie slammed DeSantis’ fight with Disney as “ill-advised, poorly executed and not conservative.”
“I’m very concerned he doesn’t have the temperament and the judgment to be President of the United States,” he told radio host John Catsimatidis of DeSantis.
If Christie does enter the fray, he would join Trump, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and conservative radio talk show host Larry Elder as declared GOP candidates.
