Chris Christie displayed little joy when he introduced Donald Trump as “the next president” at his Super Tuesday victory rally.
For thirty minutes, as the billionaire delivered his triumphant speech, Mr Christie, his former rival, stood stony-faced behind him, looking more like an uneasy bodyguard than a man revelling in the glow of Trump victories.
Mr Christie, whose own presidential hopes ended in New Hampshire last month, is under fire for his surprise endorsement of Mr Trump. Once hailed as a bipartisan pragmatist who could be the antidote to Washington’s gridlock, the New Jersey governor is under pressure to resign.
Six newspapers in his home state joined forces to condemn Mr Christie’s endorsement of Mr Trump after he quit the race for the Republican nomination. “We’re fed up with Governor Chris Christie’s arrogance. We’re fed up with his opportunism. We’re fed up with his hypocrisy. We’re disgusted with his endorsement of Donald Trump after he spent months on the campaign trail trashing him,” thundered the joint editorial.
It added that Mr Christie had spent 261 days of the past year campaigning away from home and continues to travel on Mr Trump’s behalf: “For the good of the state, it’s time for Christie to do his long-neglected constituents a favour and resign as governor.” Mr Christie, who was re-elected as governor in 2013 by a landslide, has waning approval ratings of 31 per cent.
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New Hampshire’s influential Union Leader newspaper had endorsed Mr Christie, as “the best chance to take on and face down Donald Trump”. Joseph McQuaid, its publisher, has since changed his mind. “Boy, were we wrong. Rather than standing up to the bully, Christie bent his knee,” he wrote.