Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Sunday endorsed Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro (Democrat), his Republican opponent in the 2022 presidential election, blaming former President Trump for the governor’s growing popularity.
Christie, who ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination last year, said he thought Shapiro should be Harris’ running mate, amid speculation ahead of Harris’ expected to announce her running mate this week.
“I don’t think this is a difficult choice. He’s a very capable politician. He’s extraordinarily popular, he has 65 percent support in the states she needs to win. That’s really important. And let me say this … if she picks Mr. Shapiro on Tuesday, Donald Trump will have created Josh Shapiro,” Christie said Sunday on ABC News’ “This Week.”
“He endorsed Mr. Mastriano, the weakest Republican candidate in that field,” Christie added, referring to Republican state Sen. Doug Mastriano, who lost to Mr. Shapiro in the 2022 Pennsylvania gubernatorial race.
Christie argued the endorsement helped Shapiro “appeal to his base” in a close election.
“He saw an opportunity to run an election to form a coalition government, and he did just that,” Christie said.
“So he did that and now he’s seen as the leader of the coalition, but the only reason he was able to do that is because Trump made another incredibly stupid endorsement of Mastriano, who was a flawed, weak, bad candidate. If Josh Shapiro wins and Trump loses in Pennsylvania, he can go back on that decision of sowing the seeds of his defeat in 2022.”
The Hill has reached out to the Trump campaign for comment.
Christie dismissed the notion that the vice presidential pick isn’t important, saying the choice is “very important.”
“Firstly, it will become clear whether she is truly trying to reach out to the whole party and ultimately the whole country,” he said.
“I think she needs to pick someone who is perceived as more moderate than she is. I think she needs to pick someone who has more experience governing at the ground level. So I think she’ll pick the governor.”
The former New Jersey governor said that’s also important because it shows voters his decision-making process.
“The vice president, frankly, doesn’t make a lot of decisions. It’s the president that makes the decisions and the vice president helps execute those decisions, right? So I think that will show,” he added.
Harris, who officially became the Democratic presidential front-runner last week, has been on a condensed schedule to select a running mate after President Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race last month. She is expected to announce her running mate by Tuesday morning and then embark on a four-day, seven-state campaign tour with her chosen candidate.
Other potential candidates to join her include Shapiro, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
Shapiro, 51, served as Pennsylvania’s attorney general from 2017 to 2023. His time as attorney general did not overlap with Harris’ time as California’s attorney general, but allies of Shapiro said the two became acquainted because Shapiro maintained contact with the Democratic State Attorneys General Association.
