For Christie, New Hampshire’s Primary Is Do or Die

We’re here in New Hampshire, outside a brewery with Gov. Chris Christie because, as he told us, this is his make-or-break state. His path to the Republican nomination runs through New Hampshire, the first-in-the nation primary. “If Donald Trump wins here, he will be our nominee. And everything that happens after that is going to be on our party and on our country.” “You’re about second in the polls in New Hampshire, but President Trump is still 20 points ahead. How do you see your path now that this race has started to actually winning this?” “I see it right where we’re sitting. The path is to beat him here. I think once Donald Trump loses in one place, that entire rotted building will crumble.” “Is there any scenario that you could see where you would drop out?” “Look, Nick, if I don’t do well in New Hampshire, then I’ll leave. I mean, it’s like I’ve been through this before. I know what these races mean. And if I do very well here, then you bet I’ll continue on through the convention.” More so than any other candidate in this race, Governor Christie has been harshly critical of former President Trump. Most of the field has been trying to keep Trump out of it. Christie has made it central to his argument for why he deserves the presidency. “And we watched you stand up there and say that, you know, Donald Trump was unfit, and you were very right. We agree. And then all of a sudden, you back out of the race and we see you on the stage next to him.” “Yup.” “Sucking up to him —” “Yup.” “So I want to know why? And how do I know that you’re not going to do that again this time?” “Well first off, why was because I didn’t want Hillary Clinton to be president, and I was convinced he was going to be the nominee at that point.” “It’s retail campaigning in New Hampshire. You don’t come up here to give big policy speeches, normally. What you do is come up here to meet voters. Gotten a chance to meet a lot of voters, take a lot of photos, shake some hands. It’s amazing that this is the way we elect a president in this country. But it is. But just remember, the future of this country is going to be determined here. So America is counting on you, and I’m counting on you too.”