Chris Christie Announces 2024 Presidential Run, Knocks Trump, George Washington, Praises Woodrow Wilson

Former Republican New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie announced his campaign for the 2024 presidential election on Tuesday, during which he knocked former President Donald Trump and strangely praised former President Woodrow Wilson at George Washington’s expense.

Christie has been a fierce opponent and critic of Donald Trump, despite endorsing him wholeheartedly in 2016, since the Russia collusion investigation, a criticism that only accelerated following the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill. In his announcement on Tuesday, the former New Jersey governor repeated his dislike for the former president, charging that he helped make America smaller by playing off people’s divisions.

“We have leaders who have led us to being small. Small by their example. Small by the way they conduct themselves. Small by the things they tell us we should care about. Smaller and smaller,” he said.

“And they do it in other ways too. They’re making us smaller by dividing us into smaller and smaller groups. And they sell to you that we should get into these smaller groups because we’ll be more comfortable,” he continued. “The smaller and smaller group you get into, then you’re probably not going to hear anything you disagree with. The smaller group you get into, you just watch the news you want to hear. The smaller group you get into, the less chances you’ll ever be offended by anything.”

Christie charged that both Republicans and Democrats were guilty of this divisive exploitation. On the left, he criticized Joe Biden and President Barack Obama, for promising to bring Americans together but doing the exact opposite. On the right, he criticized former President Donald Trump for allegedly continuing their divisions. Later, Christie more specifically attacked Donald Trump.

In a moment of refreshing realism, Christie did advise those present not to be looking for the perfect candidate, including himself.

“If you are in search of the perfect candidate, it is time to leave,” he said, prompting laughter. “I am not it. Not only am I not the perfect candidate, I am far from the perfect person.”

Christie then used his admission of mistakes to attack Donald Trump, arguing that people should be wary of a man who refuses to admit he never made a mistake.

“If your leaders are not willing to admit to you that they’re fallible, that they make mistakes, that they hurt like you, that they bleed like you, and that they suffer disappointments and letdowns, beware,” he said.

Christie specifically named Donald Trump as such a man.

In one of the more viral moments from his speech, Christie admonished George Washington while praising the foreign policy of former President Woodrow Wilson, who has been regarded as one of the worst presidents in history mostly due to his insistence in involving America in World War I and his failure to negotiate a fair peace with Germany, which could have prevented World War II.

“In 1917, when Europe was at war and dictatorships were taking over the entire continent, and America had followed the admonition of George Washington since its founding to stay out of foreign entanglements, Woodrow Wilson said, ‘no, if America allows Europe to go under dictatorship, we will be next,'” explained Christie. “Franklin Roosevelt said the same thing 24 years later when Hitler and Mussolini and Hirohito decided that dictatorship is what was going to rule the world.”

As Politico reported, “recent polling suggests the former New Jersey governor is deeply unpopular with Republican voters. He has the highest unfavorable ratings of any candidate in the field. Sixty percent say they would not support him under any circumstances. No other contender has numbers even close to that bad.”

Flashback: Chris Christie: Old, Boring Biden Didn’t Win 2020, Trump Lost

Paul Roland Bois joined Breitbart News in 2021. He also directed the award-winning feature film, EXEMPLUM, which can be viewed on Tubi, Google Play, YouTube Movies, or Vimeo on Demand. Follow him on Twitter @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.