“All these people who feel like he’s bullied and he’s put them in a horse-collar hold … will feel free to say, ‘See, I told you so,’” said one Republican who has worked with Christie.

That sense of glee from detractors “is going to be worse than they anticipate,” said the Republican, adding that local critics but also detractors in some of the early presidential states might now feel emboldened to take shots at a man who 24 hours ago was seen by many as the most likely GOP standard-bearer in 2016…

“He talks to very few people,” Kean told POLITICO.

The Republican who’s worked with Christie was more blunt: “Christie doesn’t think anyone in the room is as smart as Christie.”