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Chris Christie was heard on a hot mic blasting his fellow Republican presidential candidates before his announcement in New Hampshire that he would drop out.
Mr Christie spoke to someone named Wayne before his announcement on Wednesday evening in Windham, New Hampshire, but did not realise that his microphone was on. The former New Jersey governor who endorsed former president Donald Trump in 2016 but staged a campaign throughout last year criticising the former president said that many people did not want to hear what he had to say.
“People don’t want to hear it, Wayne,” he said. “We know we’re right. But they don’t want to hear it. We couldn’t have been any clearer.”
Mr Christie also highlighted how much former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis spent on television ads, while he said he spent a fraction of their totals.
“Who’s punching above their weight and who’s going getting a return on their investment?” he asked.
“She’s gonna get smoked,” Mr Christie said about Ms Haley. “You and I both know it, she’s not up to this.”
The person speaking with Mr Christie said Mr Trump was beating Ms Haley by 20 points in New Hampshire and asked if Mr Trump would likely win the Iowa caucus.
A Suffolk University/Boston Globe/USA Today poll found that Mr Trump led Ms Haley by 19 points.
“Oh, easily,” Mr Christie said. “DeSantis called me and he’s petrified.”
Mr Christie campaigned aggressively in New Hampshire, where a large chunk of voters are decidedly more moderate and many primary voters are unaffiliated and therefore not as partisan as they are in the Iowa caucus. But Mr Christie found little reception among voters as the party still largely supports Mr Trump.
During the debates, Mr Christie occasionally defended Ms Haley, particularly from criticisms by businessman and political neophyte Vivek Ramaswamy. But he also criticised her for not explicitly criticising Mr Trump.
Mr Trump for his part commented on Mr Christie’s decision to leave.
“I hear Chris Christie is dropping out of the race today — I might even get to like him again!” Mr Trump said on Truth Social. “Anyway, he was just caught on a hot mic making a very truthful statement: ‘She’s gonna get smoked…You and I both know it, she’s not up to this.’”