Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (R) has thrown his hat into the 2024 Presidential Election, further crowding the GOP primary. Fox News anchor Bret Baier suggested Christie will do well on the debate stage against former President Donald Trump since he "ended" Senator Marco Rubio's (R-FL) 2016 Presidential run after the New Hampshire primary and third GOP debate. Sen. Rubio disagreed.
In the clip provided by Mediaite, Baier said despite the unsuccessful campaign, Christie "was successful on the debate stage, actually, in New Hampshire, taking out – essentially – Florida Senator Marco Rubio."
Baier referred to Christie's blistering attacks on Sen. Rubio in the third GOP debate, where he claimed Rubio lacked the experience necessary to be President that being Governor provided. When Rubio attempted to respond, Christie said he delivered "the memorized twenty-five-second speech that is exactly what his advisers gave him," which won cheers from the audience.
Sen. Rubio, however, believed otherwise, saying he was advised not to counterattack. Moreover, after the debate, he still managed to win, or come second; in several states, stating, "Any political reporter/commentator claiming Christie “ended” my campaign in 2016 is lazy or dumb."
"Any political reporter/commentator claiming Christie “ended” my campaign in 2016 is lazy or dumb. NH debate sucked because instead of hitting back when attacked like I wanted to, I listened to advice about “pivoting” & not “punching down” on a CC who was at 7% & about to drop out. But it didn’t end my campaign. After NH I finished 2nd in SC & NV, won 3 primaries, almost won Virginia on Super Tuesday, finished with the 3rd most delegates behind Trump's historic campaign & was reelected twice by 8 & 17 points," Rubio tweeted.
Any political reporter/commentator claiming Christie “ended” my campaign in 2016 is lazy or dumb
NH debate sucked because instead of hitting back when attacked like I wanted to, I listened to advice about “pivoting” & not “punching down” on a CC who was at 7% & about to drop…
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) June 6, 2023
When we look at the results courtesy of the US Election Atlas, Rubio's Twitter claim does have merit. Rubio won Minnesota (36.16%), Washington, D.C. (37.30%), and Puerto Rico (72.94%), and narrowly lost to Trump in Virginia, with the former coming in at 34.8% and Rubio at 31.98%. Christie did not get 1% of the vote nationwide.
