Oh, to be a fly on Mike Pence’s head and learn more about what happened in this chapter of Republican politics. It’s only January 10, 2024 but a lot has happened. Donald Trump made history yesterday for arguing that a president can literally get away with murder if 34 senators allow it. Strangely, that doesn’t sound anywhere near as off the wall as it would have sounded a mere eight, nine years ago.
And now more history in the making: a final debate will take place before the Iowa caucuses, the only thing being unusual is that the frontrunner will be on his own Fox News townhall while the two also-rans duke it out for second and third place. Not sure why they’re even bothering but this is the state of play. We merely recite the facts. And Chris Christie suspended his campaign today, which was expected. This part wasn’t. Axios:
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was caught on a hot mic talking about his fellow GOP presidential candidates Wednesday shortly before suspending his campaign.
Driving the news: Christie was heard saying former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley, who has solidified her second-place polling in New Hampshire, is going to get “smoked.”
- “She’s not up for this,” he continued.
Zoom in:Â “[Haley] spent $68 million so far just on TV,” Christie said, adding that DeSantis spent $59 million while his campaign spent $12 million.
- “I mean, who’s punching above their weight, and who’s getting a return on their investment,” Christie said.
Of note:Â The former New Jersey governor also said a “petrified” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called him.
- The audio on the event livestream turned off after that comment.
That is truly a shame. This is like the trailer for a movie and now you’re doing to go to the theater to find out why Haley’s going to get smoked and how, and also why DeSantis was calling up Christie — petrified or not.
I agree with Christie that Haley is in over her head. She stands for nothing. She merely wants power and she believes that placating the largest number of people will lead to that. That’s insane. At least at the presidential level. I can see where that might work in South Carolina politics, yes, but not nationally. So she will get smoked.
As to DeSantis, I frankly didn’t think the man had enough sense to be petrified. Fear is an emotion that people with a survival mechanism experience. Fear is our way of saying, “Uh, oh. I might be getting on some shaky ground here. I better be careful.” DeSantis doesn’t seem to operate out of a sense of caution or fear. He operates recklessly. He thinks nothing of taking actions that wreck the economy of the state he’s elected to govern and alienating the top employer in that state.
So what has DeSantis frightened? Wouldn’t that be good to know? Apparently, you’re going to have to ask The Shadow or Chris Christie, they’re the ones who know.
It’s a shame that Christie suspended his campaign although we all knew that it was only a matter of time. I give him kudos for having lasted this long. I also give him kudos for recanting his position vis a vis endorsing Trump in 2016.
Now we wait for the dueling town halls on CNN and Fox News. It’s show time.
