Jun.08

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The Decapitator Speaks

Chris Christie threw his hat in the ring yesterday. With a vengeance. It's really not clear if he thinks he has a chance to win the GOP presidential nomination, but he definitely wants to try to take down Donald Trump. For over 2 hours at the New Hampshire Institute for Politics, Christie spoke to the crowd, mostly about Trump. He compared the former president to Voldemort. He called him [Trump, not Voldemort] self-serving and self-consumed. He lit into Trump in many other ways that no other candidate dares to even contemplate. Here are five takeaways from Christie's launch:

• Trump Has a New A**hole: Christie is positioning himself as The Decapitator. He previously said he would not enter the race as a paid assassin. True to his word, he is not. He is an unpaid assassin. What Christie fully understands is that pulling no punches and speaking his mind will get him tons of free media exposure. For example, one question he was asked is whether he would pardon Trump. He replied: "I'm not going to dodge the answer. But I will tell you as a prosecutor, if I believe someone has gotten a full and fair trial in front of a jury of their peers, and especially someone in public life, who committed those crimes when they held a public trust, I can't imagine pardoning him." That is the kind of direct answer the media love. And then he added that when a person accepts a pardon, they must acknowledge their guilt. Christie will not want for free air time.
  
  
• He acknowledged his imperfections: After he dropped out in 2016, Christie supported Trump. This will come back to haunt him. In an attempt to get out in front of this, Christie admitted that he is not a perfect candidate. He said if you are looking for that, please leave the room now. He admitted that he lost in 2016 due to the people of New Hampshire rejecting him. But he also said: "But beware of the leader who won't admit any of those shortcomings, because you know what the problem is with a leader like that? A leader like that thinks America's greatness resides in the mirror he's looking at."
  
  
• His 2024 Strategy: Christie understands retail politics in a way Casey DeSantis wishes her husband did. In 2016, he held over 100 town halls in New Hampshire. Yesterday, he spent 90 minutes answering questions. This time he is going to skip Iowa and focus on New Hampshire, where a lot of Republicans have an independent streak. If he can beat Trump in New Hampshire, it will shake the campaigns to their foundations.
  
  
• Sununu Thinks Christie has a shot: Gov. Chris Sununu (R-NH) was not present when Christie made his announcement, but he said Christie is authentic and New Hampshirites love that. He also noted that Christie has good name ID in the state from his previous run and he is willing to go door to door and talk to the voters. It is hard to imagine Trump or Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) doing that. If Sununu endorses Christie later on, that could give him a real boost.
  
  
• Christie compares himself to DeSantis: Christie pointed out that he had to work with a Democratic-controlled legislature so he had to compromise to get anything done. He notes that DeSantis has a Republican-controlled state legislature and never compromises. That won't work if DeSantis is president, even if the Republicans control the trifecta, because Senate Democrats will filibuster all his plans. He won't be able to deal with that because he won't be able to bully them. In effect, Christie is saying that DeSantis won't be able to govern at all because he is used to getting his way. When he tells the Senate Democrats to jump, not only will they not say "how high?," they will say "nope, not doing it."
  

Christie's attacks were not limited to Trump himself. He also went after Ivanka and Jared, saying: "The grift from this family is breathtaking. It's breathtaking. Jared Kushner and Ivanka Kushner walk out of the White House, and months later get $2 billion from the Saudis. You think it's because he's some kind of investing genius? Or do you think it's because he was sitting next to the president of the United States for four years doing favors for the Saudis?" If this is a sample of what is to come, we predict that Christie will be in the news—a lot. And he will meet the requirements for the first debate. If Trump shows up, Christie will call him out to his face, resulting in an, er, interesting evening. If Trump doesn't show up, Christie won't lay off him, but the sparks won't fly as much. (V)