Chris Christie ends 2024 presidential bid that was based on stopping Donald Trump

Chris Christie is dropping out of the presidential race, according to sources close to his campaign, ending a bid that focused almost solely on criticizing Donald Trump and making the case that the former president should not be the Republican nominee. 

Christie, the former New Jersey governor who famously endorsed Trump after ending his own 2016 presidential bid, was by far the most persistent critic of the former president on the 2024 campaign trail. But in a Republican party where Trump has maintained his status as the apparent frontrunner, Christie's narrowly focused bid always seemed to be a long-shot effort. 

The turning point for Christie, who staked his entire presidential primary campaign on a strong showing in the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary, came when he failed to win the coveted endorsement of the state's GOP Gov. Chris Sununu, who instead backed former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.