Chris Christie says Trump has not 'cleared' 2024 GOP primary field

Jack Birle

April 16, 06:14 PM April 16, 06:27 PM

Former Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ) cautioned those calling former President Donald Trump the likely 2024 nominee that he has not "cleared" the field of fellow GOP primary candidates.

Christie dismissed the idea Trump had already cleared the field despite some 2024 contenders, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, opting against challenging the former president. Trump is considered the frontrunner in the field, with Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) close behind in several polls, but with other contenders far behind the two leaders.

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"I don’t think the field is starting to look like Trump. When you’re indicted in one place and you’re facing investigations in two others, it makes you at least an uncertain winner. But again, he’s the former president. So course he’s going to be the front runner. He has the best name ID of anybody in the race. But you already have four candidates who announced," Christie said on ABC's This Week on Sunday.

"This is what I said a couple months ago on this show. This is not going to be a 2016 field. This is going to be six to eight candidates that are going to be running. It will be a normal type sized field. But certainly it won’t be a field that Donald Trump has cleared," Christie added.

Christie also said that he believes the 2024 contenders who announced they would not run, likely did it for personal reasons rather than seeing the primary as Trump's to lose.

"You see Asa Hutchinson in the race and Nikki Haley in the race, now Tim Scott in the race. These are substantial people who are going to have something to say. And so I don’t think that’s what it means at all," Christie said. "I do think each one of these decisions were made on rather personal levels. I think, in particular, Pompeo's was a decision, that was just he didn’t want to do it. And boy you got to really want to do it to be able to get in."

Christie, who ran for president in 2016, has teased that he may run again in 2024 but would not announce a decision on This Week when asked directly.

Sununu makes rare admission of pro-choice stance while ripping abortion pill chaos

Emily Jacobs

April 15, 10:19 PM April 15, 10:29 PM

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu acknowledged his pro-choice position over the weekend while reiterating his concern that "hardline" stances from fellow Republicans will hurt the party's ability to reach new voters.

Sununu, a Republican, made the comments Saturday while discussing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, also a Republican, facing protests while visiting New Hampshire Friday night after signing a six week abortion ban into law. The New Hampshire governor said he believed that some of his GOP colleagues taking extreme positions, and at times implementing them, was harming the party's electorally.

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"My issue is I think it's a terrible message for for the Republican primary, I really do, I think it hurts us in the general election," Sununu said. "I think there are much more pressing issues, if you will, that are facing Americans like inflation, like fiscal responsibility, like border security. All of these are really the issues that have to be answered, that have to be provided solutions to."

The governor said the electorate was on his side on this issue. He argued that Republicans who pushed federal abortion bans ahead of the 2022 midterm elections alienated disaffected Democrats and independents who may have otherwise considered voting for GOP candidates.

The governor was referencing Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) proposing a national 15-week abortion ban just before last November. He called proposing such restrictions ahead of an election, "the dumbest thing you could possibly do."

Many political observers and pollsters have argued that the Supreme Court's overturn of Roe v. Wade last year was one of two primary causes for Republican's lackluster midterm showing. Former President Donald Trump's oft controversial primary picks failing to gain traction in the general election was also blamed for the party's much-anticipated red wave turning out to be a ripple.

The Wisconsin state Supreme Court race earlier this month, where the winning liberal candidate centered her candidacy on abortion access, furthered those concerns.

A U.S. District Court judge out of Texas ruled last week that the Food and Drug Administration's approval of mifepristone, one part of a two-drug regimen to induce an abortion, should be suspended. The ruling was at odds with a similar one out of Washington state. By Friday, the Supreme Court stepped in with a stay on order, setting the stage for a high court ruling on the matter.

Asked if he thought a Supreme Court ruling to uphold the mifepristone ban would hurt the GOP further with independent voters, Sununu answered affirmatively.

"Yes, yeah absolutely. Look, [mifepristone has] been around for 20 years. The issue isn't so much about whether it gets banned or not. I mean, I'm pro-choice, I think it should be legal, that's fine. But it's all about these massive changes in precedent, right?" he said. "Roe v. Wade, whether you agreed with or not, there was a 50 year precedent there. There's a 20 year precedent with [mifepristone]. So now to the American public it looks like Republicans are coming in and trying to massively change and blow up the system."

Sununu said that while abortion was not "a non-issue," he believed some Republicans taking severe positions on the matter was turning away independents and "the younger generation of Republicans" which he said the party needs "to stop being so disenfranchised" so they "come back on the team."

"I just think the messaging as a whole is not where it needs to be," he continued, noting that "it'll be interesting to see" how 2024 Republican presidential candidates navigate the issue. "Ether way, I don't think it's anything that helps us in the long term. I just want to win in '24."

Asa Hutchinson calls on Trump to drop out of 2024 contest if indicted

Ryan King

March 12, 08:58 AM March 12, 09:51 AM

Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) urged former President Donald Trump to drop out of the 2024 contest if he gets indicted.

Lawyers for the Manhattan district attorney’s office have reportedly been hinting to Trump's lawyers that he could face charges over an alleged hush-money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels back in the 2016 election cycle. Hutchinson argued that such an indictment would be a major "distraction."

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"It's out of respect for the institution of the presidency of the United States. And, that's a distraction that is difficult to run for the highest office in the land under those circumstances," Hutchinson told USA TODAY.

Hutchinson has long been an unabashed critic of Trump and is mulling a 2024 primary challenge against him. He has signaled that a decision about whether to run will come in April. The former governor also argued that a plethora of other legal troubles dogging Trump hinder his 2024 chances.

"I know he's going to say that they're politically motivated and all of those things, but the fact is, there's just a lot of turmoil out there with the number of investigations going on," he said.

With legal firestorms mounting on multiple fronts, Trump has been resolute that he won't drop out of the race even if indicted.

“Oh, absolutely, I won’t even think about leaving,” Trump told reporters when asked at a gaggle before his Conservative Political Action Conference address. “Probably, it’ll enhance my numbers, but it’s a very bad thing for America. It’s very bad for the country.”

Trump's former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen is set to deliver testimony to the Manhattan district attorney’s office. The former president is also facing legal scrutiny from special counsel Jack Smith's sprawling investigation over his actions surrounding the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, as well as the coinciding efforts to challenge the 2020 election, and his handling of classified documents. New York Attorney General Letitia James is also pursuing a sweeping $250 million civil lawsuit against Trump.

"It doesn't mean that he's guilty of it or he should be charged, but it's just such a distraction that would be unnecessary for somebody who's seeking the highest office in the land," Hutchinson added.