US Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump on Friday won the backing of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, himself a former presidential candidate, in a jolt to one of the wildest primary contests in recent memory.
Christie is one of the first establishment Republicans to endorse Trump in a nominating race where many in the party have been distressed by the billionaire New York businessman’s campaign tactics and policy proposals.
“I’ve gotten to know all the people on that stage and there is none who is better prepared to provide America with the strong leadership that it needs both at home and around the world than Donald Trump,” Christie said at a news conference in Texas.
Photo: Reuters
Trump shared his reaction when Christie notified his campaign: “I said: ‘Wow, this is really important.’”
The endorsement is yet more momentum as Trump moves into the critical “Super Tuesday” primary elections next week and was followed by a nod from Maine Governor Paul LePage, who broke the news in an interview with Howie Carr, a conservative radio talk-show host.
It also turns the story away from the series of brutal rhetorical attacks from Trump’s top opponents in the party’s 10th debate on Thursday night.
The bombastic billionaire’s candidacy has defied all the rules that normally apply in the contest for the highest office in the US.
Trump has repeatedly made politically incorrect statements, used salty language and denigrated Hispanics and Muslims.
Nevertheless, he holds a big lead in national polling heading into the Tuesday primaries and a caucus in 11 states with a treasure of 595 delegates that could make his nomination all but certain.
So far, after four primary and caucus contests, Trump has 82 delegates, US Senator Ted Cruz has 17 and US Senator Marco Rubio has 16. A candidate must have 1,237 state delegates to win the Republican nomination at the party’s convention this summer.
Trump’s unexpected candidacy and front-runner status reflect Americans’ anger over government deadlock, a slow recovery from the “Great Recession” and a fear of terrorism.
Rubio has been trying to position himself as the party establishment’s candidate, but the Christie endorsement suddenly made that more of a challenge.
“We don’t need any more of these Washington DC acts,” Christie said of Rubio at Friday’s announcement.
From the start of Thursday night’s debate, a fiery Rubio went hard after Trump, attacking his position on immigration, his privileged background, his speaking style and more.
Cruz also piled into the attack, questioning the New York businessman’s conservative credentials.
The debate reflected the increasing urgency of their effort to take Trump down before he becomes unstoppable. It was a rare night where Trump found himself on the defensive. The other two candidates, Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon, and Ohio Governor John Kasich, were largely left to watch the fireworks.
Rubio was the principal aggressor of the night.
Taking on Trump’s declaration that he would build a wall on the Mexican border, Rubio declared: “If he builds a wall the way he built Trump Tower, he’ll be using illegal immigration to do it.”
Trump said that even though officials in Mexico have said they would not pay for his planned wall, “Mexico will pay for the wall.”
He also said that because Mexico’s current and former presidents had criticized him on the issue, “the wall just got 10 feet taller.”
At a congressional dinner on Thursday night, former Republican presidential candidate Senator Lindsey Graham derided Trump and said the party had gone “batshit crazy.”
Rubio kept up the assault in a campaign appearance on Friday, calling Trump a “con artist.”
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