By Shania Shelton and Kit Maher | CNN
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said Wednesday he was “wrong” about former President Donald Trump, whom he twice supported and advised ahead of the 2020 election.
“Turns out I was wrong. I couldn’t make him a better candidate and I couldn’t make him a better president, and he disappointed me,” Christie told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “The Lead,” calling election night 2020 “the breaking point.”
Christie, who announced his 2024 campaign on Tuesday, is putting attacks on the former president – currently the front-runner for the GOP nomination – at the center of his campaign.
Asked about the federal investigation into Trump’s handling of classified documents, which appears to be nearing its final stages, Christie, a former federal prosecutor, said the retention of classified information would be a “big problem.”
“The classified documents that he had – that we now know he had – were things that should have never left the White House. And if he, in fact, knew that he had these documents, was looking at them, utilizing them in some way after he left the office – and it looks like maybe even two years after he left office – it’s a big problem.”
Christie is part of a crowded field that includes Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott. Former Vice President Mike Pence and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum both announced their bids on Wednesday.
Christie told Tapper that 2024 is a different atmosphere from 2016, when Christie first ran against Trump and Trump cruised to the nomination by splitting a crowded field. This time, Christie argued, Trump has a political record to run against.
“On promises both big and small, he broke them. He disappointed our party. He disappointed the country, and that’s going to be the focus of this campaign,” he said.
He called out Trump for failing to say…
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