MANCHESTER, N.H. – Former Republican Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey said his trip on Monday to New Hampshire, the state that holds the first primary and votes second overall in the GOP presidential nominating calendar, will help him decide whether to “get into the battle” and launch a 2024 GOP presidential campaign.
Christie said that a key to that decision will be whether he sees a pathway to victory over former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Christie will headline a town-hall style event Monday evening at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics, which for over two decades has been a must-stop for actual or potential White House contenders from both major parties. Word of the town hall and a dinner later in the evening with close friends and supporters in the Granite State was first reported earlier this month by Fox News.
The former two-term governor, who unsuccessfully ran for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination and who is considered one of the best communicators in the GOP, has repeatedly said for well over a year that he is “thinking” about making another bid for the White House in 2024.
FIRST ON FOX: CHRISTIE TRIP TO NEW HAMPSHIRE SPARKS MORE 2024 SPECULATION
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signs the iconic wooden eggs after speaking at ‘Politics and Eggs’ at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College, on March 21, 2022 in Goffstown, New Hampshire. (Fox News )
Christie told Fox News Digital ahead of his trip that he plans “to go up there and talk to people in New Hampshire — who I know are the best-informed voters in the country about things that I think are important in the world and in our country right now — and to see how they react to that, and see that what they think about things that I think are important.”
When asked if a positive response from voters will further encourage him to run again for the White House, Christie said “there’s no question that if you find that you’re connecting…
