Happening this Thursday: Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley clash at debate… Donald Trump, at separate town hall event, hints he’s already made up his mind about VP pick… Trump attends closing arguments of New York civil fraud trial… Hunter Biden gets arraigned in Los Angeles on federal tax charges… And we are four days away from the Iowa caucuses.
But FIRST… Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie had plenty to say on Wednesday.
He announced he was suspending his presidential campaign. “It’s clear to me tonight that there isn’t a path for me to win the nomination.”
He kept up his direct attacks on GOP frontrunner Donald Trump. “I’m going to make sure that in no way do I enable Donald Trump to ever be president of the United States again. And that’s more important than my own personal ambition.”
And on a hot mic right before his announcement, Christie suggested former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley couldn’t defeat Trump (“She’s going to get smoked — you and I both know it. She’s not up to this”), and he revealed he had spoken earlier with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (“DeSantis called me — petrified”).
Yet here’s the one important thing Christie left out: Then for whom should Republicans vote — if not Christie, not Trump, not Haley (because she’s going to get smoked) and not a “petrified” DeSantis?
After all, you can’t beat somebody with nobody.
That same logic extends to the general election, as Christie has said he wouldn’t support either Trump or President Joe Biden in a possible rematch of the 2020 election. But he has spoken warmly about Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., if he runs as an independent.
“Let me tell you, Joe Manchin would be a really good president. And, you know, I liked him a lot. And first of all, I don’t agree with him on everything. And he wouldn’t be my first choice. But if it were between those three to vote for it would be a lot easier,” Christie said last week, per NBC’s Emma Barnett.
Yet what happens if Manchin doesn’t run?
Or if you believe the numbers pointing to how a third party only helps Trump?
Headline of the day
The number of the day is … $1.3 million
That’s how much former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s campaign spent on TV ads throughout his campaign, per AdImpact, an ad tracking firm.
Christie was also backed by a super PAC, Tell It Like It Is PAC, which spent an additional $6.6 million on ads boosting him.
In the last few weeks, the campaign focused on direct-to-camera ads, where Christie addressed voters head-on, telling them things like, “I can’t tell you how many of your citizens have come up to me over the last eight months and whispered to me, ‘Keep telling the truth about Donald Trump. We need to hear it.’”
The super PAC and Christie’s campaign targeted their advertising almost entirely in New Hampshire, spending most heavily in the Boston and Burlington, Vermont, media markets.
That strategy aligned with Christie’s campaign strategy — he spent almost no time campaigning outside of New Hampshire, opting to stay out of Iowa entirely.
Eyes on November: The fight for second place takes centerstage
Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, the two GOP presidential contenders who appear to be locked in a battle for second place in next week’s Iowa caucuses, went head-to-head Wednesday night in the latest televised Republican debate.
Haley and DeSantis faced off for two hours during the debate, hosted by CNN, and largely ignored the frontrunner. They did criticize former President Donald Trump a handful of times, both agreeing that he should have been on the debate stage, but they mainly took aim at each other.
NBC’s Alex Seitz-Wald summed up the key themes of their attacks: “Haley portrayed DeSantis as an unserious, lying loser,” he wrote. “DeSantis, meanwhile, hammered Haley as a squishy moderate globalist who wouldn’t stand up for conservative values.”
And NBC’s Sahil Kapur lays out four takeaways from Wednesday night’s debate, including Trump facing less heat as he once again opted not to debate his rivals. “From a political standpoint, the dynamic vindicated Trump’s decision to ignore the debates — once again, he faced much less meaningful criticism that might threaten to dent his lead in the primaries,” Kapur wrote.
Trump instead appeared on Fox News for a town hall event from Iowa. That’s where Trump said he has already decided on a running mate, noting, “I know who it’s going to be.” But NBC’s Allan Smith and Vaughn Hillyard report that Trump’s campaign attempted to walk back that comment, with one adviser saying “nothing is finalized.”
In other campaign news …
Trump trial: Trump is expected back in court on Thursday for closing arguments in his civil fraud case in New York. Trump planned to speak during the arguments, but the judge in the case won’t allow him to do so, per NBC’s Adam Reiss and Dareh Gregorian.
Immigration focus: The Washington Post reports how immigration is a top issue in the GOP primary as it becomes a key part of recent ads and Trump’s attacks on Haley. The Post adds that the word “border” is the most common word in political ads so far this month.
Livin’ on a prayer: NBC’s Dan Gallo, Vaughn Hillyard and Jake Traylor detail how the opening prayers at Trump rallies have taken on a new role, writing that the prayers “have become their own political call to action, sometimes punctuated with applause lines and partisan language, invoking the same falsehoods and vindictiveness that Trump himself spreads.”
Taking sides in Iowa: Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ decision to endorse DeSantis has not been well-receivedby GOP officials and Hawkeye State voters, the New York Times reports. Meanwhile, evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats defended his endorsement of DeSantis in an op-ed in the Des Moines Register, writing that he considers Trump a friend, and his decisions to back and vote for DeSantis “come from a friend doing what’s best for the GOP, best for America and … best for Trump.”
Not taking sides in Iowa: Iowa GOP Rep. Randy Feenstra was openly considering endorsing a candidate in the presidential race, even as the rest of the state’s congressional delegation stayed neutral. But he told NBC News on Wednesday that he isn’t endorsing a candidate after all, saying doing so would be “disingenuous.”
Eyes on No Labels: The New York Times reports that a new super PAC, New Leaders ‘24 PAC, will back the eventual presidential candidate selected by No Labels, a group promising to field an alternative to Trump and Biden if the general election is a rematch between the two men.
Downballot fundraising: The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee has raised $21 million so far this cycle, over a third of the $60 million they plan to spend this election cycle, per NBC’s Adam Edelman.
ICYMI: What ELSE is happening in the world:
Two Republican-led congressional committees voted Wednesday to advise the full House to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress.
On Wednesday, House Republican hard-liners tanked a vote on a procedural motion, signaling to Speaker Mike Johnson that they are displeased with a government spending deal he made with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, NBC’s Scott Wong, Julie Tsirkin and Sahil Kapur report.
Ohio’s House on Wednesday voted to override GOP Gov. Mike DeWine’s veto of a bill that restricts participation in school sports for transgender athletes and restricts gender-affirming care for transgender minors.
Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Pa., on Wednesday called on Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to resign, becoming the first Democrat in Congress to do so.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
