Trump: Christie cost Romney chance at White House

Former President Trump accused his GOP presidential primary opponent Chris Christie of costing 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney a chance at winning the presidency because of his collaboration with then-President Obama. 

Trump said in a Truth Social post on Tuesday that Christie, who was serving as the governor of New Jersey at the time, was “star struck” with Obama while they oversaw the state’s recovery from Hurricane Sandy. The hurricane, which overall caused billions of dollars of damage and killed hundreds inside and out of the United States, made landfall in late October 2012, just before the general election. 

Christie endorsed Romney for the presidency that year and served as a surrogate for his campaign, but praised Obama’s efforts to lead the recovery and yielded some criticism for complimenting Romney's political opponent. 

Trump said this ensured that Romney “never had a chance of winning the presidency.” Christie said at the time that he still supported Romney and his policies but would compliment Obama if he earned praise through his actions. 

Trump also attacked Christie over his keynote address at the 2012 Republican National Convention, calling it “one of the worst Convention Speeches in History.” 

He said Christie’s speech did “virtually not even” mention Romney by name in the speech. Christie mentioned various policy issues and a vision for the country throughout most of the address but mentioned Romney several times during the middle and end of it. 

Christie was formerly a close Trump ally and helped prepare him for the debates against Biden during the 2020 presidential election, but their relationship deteriorated following Trump’s efforts to overturn the election results and the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. 

Trump has also repeatedly attacked Romney, who has been a more vocal critic of the former president.

Christie has positioned himself in the race for the GOP nomination as a chief opponent of Trump, willing to be more aggressive in attacking the former president than other candidates have been. 

Trump blamed Christie earlier this month for his appointment of Christopher Wray to be the director of the FBI, alleging that Christie had recommended Wray.