Christie endorses Donald

Chris Christie endorses Donald Trump

'I’m happy to be on the Trump team and I look forward to working with him,' Christie said.

By Nick Gass

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie endorsed presidential frontrunner Donald Trump on Friday in a stunning announcement that adds fuel to the real estate mogul’s runaway campaign.

"I am proud to be here to endorse Donald Trump for president of the United States," Christie said, as he stood beside Trump and made his case for why his prior rival is the best candidate for the Republican nomination.

Christie said he could "guarantee you that the one person that Hillary and Bill Clinton do not want to see on that stage is Donald Trump," remarking that the Clintons "do not know the playbook of Donald Trump because he is rewriting the playbook.”

"I’m happy to be on the Trump team, and I look forward to working with him," said Christie, who dropped his own presidential bid on Feb. 10. The governor picked up just 449 more votes than Ben Carson in Iowa and New Hampshire, the two states where he went head to head before suspending his campaign.

"He's a real talent," Trump said about Christie at a press conference in Fort Worth, before receiving the endorsement.

The announcement was another curveball in a wildly unpredictable presidential race. Trump has repeatedly said that he doesn’t seek endorsements, but he already staged a splashy event to reveal the support of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, and he has touted the endorsement from evangelical leader Jerry Falwell Jr.

It’s also a burying of the hatchet for Christie and Trump, who hurled insults at each other throughout last year.

“I just don't think that he's suited to be president of the United States," he told Fox in August. "I don't think his temperament is suited for that and I don't think his experience is."

Trump had plenty of his own broadsides for Christie. “How is Chris Christie running the state of NJ, which is deeply troubled, when he is spending all of his time in NH? New Jerseyans not happy!” Trump tweeted in November.

Just a day earlier Christie had been saying to some close to him that he was going to stay neutral in the primary. He started making some of those close to him aware of his plans Friday morning. Others didn't know that the endorsement was coming at all.

"I am shocked," Ray Washburne, the governor's former presidential campaign finance director, said right after Christie endorsed Trump.

Republicans in Christie's orbit were shocked by the news. The knee-jerk read by others was that this endorsement was really about Hillary Clinton.

"Gov. Christie is looking at the political playing field and understanding that this is the one person who it looks like can beat Hillary Clinton," a former adviser on Christie's campaign said. "This is the likely nominee. This is someone who has demonstrated that he knows how to lead and that's why Gov. Christie is getting behind him. I'm just going to leave it at that."

Back in New Jersey, some Republican state lawmakers indicated that they might consider supporting the Manhattan businessman as well.

"I’m not going to say no. I’m going to think about it, and I’ll make a decision I think is best for the Republican Party," state Assemblywoman Betty Lou DeCroce said.

Democratic state Sen. Loretta Weinberg, who was defeated by Christie in 2009 as the running mate of former Gov. Jon Corzine, said, "Perhaps this is what they have in common: Neither of them have very deep-seated convictions about anything."

Democratic state Sen. Nelly Pou, who represents Paterson, home to many Muslim-Americans, said Christie's embrace of "someone who has those troubling views and positions" is "a concern."

Assemblyman Tom Giblin, a former state Democratic chairman, meanwhile, called it "a smart move on the governor's part."

“I think it keeps him in the mix as far as national politics is concerned. He could wind up theoretically on a ticket with Trump," Giblin said.

Christie aides and advisers said in the last few weeks he had been hit up for an endorsement by Ohio Gov. John Kasich's team and also had minimal conversations with Sen. Marco Rubio's team and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's team before Christie dropped out.

The blowback to Christie’s endorsement was harsh and swift. Tim Miller, Jeb Bush’s former spokesman, lit up Twitter with cutting comments. “Like Trump, Chris Christie is a pathetic, corrupt man with a tiny ego. I'm sure they bonded discussing their insecurities over a big meal,” he tweeted.

Bush strategist David Kochel also laced into Christie. “New lesson kids: sometimes, the best option for the fat kid is to just hand his lunch money over to the bully! #TrumpChristie2016,” he said on Twitter.

Rubio adviser Todd Harris tore into both men, telling reporters that Trump "can't put together a coherent noun and verb together to explain any of these things so he had to bring in someone like Chris Christie to try to do it for him. And Chris Christie has his work cut out for him."

And 2012 presidential nominee Newt Gingrich said on Twitter that the Christie announcement is a big message about the future of the race. “This Chris Christie endorsement of Trump is real signal to GOP establishment that they had better begin thinking about Trump as the future,” he said.

Christie’s newfound support comes as Trump is increasingly looking like the unstoppable frontrunner, after three consecutive and decisive wins. Super Tuesday next week could all but lock down the nomination for Trump.

The announcement interrupted a particularly nasty food fight between Marco Rubio and Trump, after Rubio launched an all-out assault on the real estate mogul during Thursday night’s debate.

At the press conference, Trump tossed a few more insults Rubio’s way, accusing Rubio of slathering on the makeup backstage at Thursday night’s debate. "He was putting it on with a trowel," Trump said.

But the bulk of the news conference was dedicated to the Christie news.

The New Jersey governor said he met with Trump on Thursday morning. “Yesterday morning I met with Donald, we sat and talked, and he said, 'How about coming out on the road to Texas with me?', and I said, 'Happy to do it, whenever you’re ready, sir.' So we did it, and that’s how the process went," he explained.

Christie said he was not angling for a Cabinet position, like attorney general, remarking that he intended to retire to private life after his term as governor is up in January 2018. Statewide, Christie's approval rating hit a new low last December, making another statewide run for office unlikely.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference, Trump addressed his comment earlier this week that "endorsements mean very little," adding that this was one exception.

The announcement came ahead of a rally, an event that Trump teased on Twitter earlier in the morning. "Will be at Fort Worth (Texas) Convention Center at 11:30 A.M. Big crowd - get there early! Big announcement to be made!" he tweeted.

Trump continued to mock Rubio during the rally, recalling the senator's sweating during the debates and thirst during his 2013 State of the Union response.

"He was sweating so badly, I’ve never seen anything like it. It looked like he had just jumped into a swimming pool with his clothes on," Trump said of Rubio's debate appearance.

At another point in the rally, then paused for a drink of water himself.

“It’s Rubio!” Trump said, holding up a water bottle and dousing the crowd before taking a swig and clutching the bottle before tossing it aside.

In a statement released by Trump's campaign, Christie said, “Donald is a leader. He is a successful person that, like me, isn’t afraid to tell it like it is. Our system is broken and it won’t be fixed from the inside. I am proud to offer my endorsement of his candidacy for President.”

Christie also took shots at Rubio during the announcement, calling him part of the "D.C. establishment."

Trump returned the favor, expressing gratitude to Christie for "the number" he did on the Florida senator during the Feb. 6 debate, in which Rubio repeated the same line multiple times and the New Jersey governor made him pay for it.

“I think he's got the absolute wrong temperament to be president," Trump said of Rubio.

“I’ve almost never seen a meltdown like that in my life. And you know, it’s interesting about people who choke—I’m, believe it or not, a good athlete," Trump boasted. "I’ve watched people choke over the years. And once a choker, always a choker. It never, ever changes. The guy that misses the kick, misses the kick. When he misses the first one, you’ve got to get rid of him, ‘cause it doesn’t work."

"Once a choker, always a choker. And that was one of the epic meltdowns. He didn’t know where he was," Trump continued. "I thought he was gonna, I thought he was gonna die. Good going, Chris.”