Chris Christie wants to out-Trump Trump

For someone who isn’t going to automatically defer to Trump, though, this could be an opportunity. If Trump freezes the field, that allows Christie to either (a) get a head start when Trump finally decides not to run, or (b) get a clean shot at a one-on-one race against Trump, with the hope that many Republicans who grudgingly supported Trump might prefer the former guy to stay former. This is a high-risk, high-reward strategy. Christie could get destroyed and humiliated by Trump who—let’s be honest—is the clear frontrunner for the nomination. Or it could work. Ask yourself this question: If Christie really wants to be president, and is willing to suffer the slings and arrows, is there a better strategy? By 2028, there will be a huge field of new Republicans (some of whom we’ve probably never even heard of). Christie missed his window when his approval numbers were through the roof in 2012 and decided to bide his time, which was a mistake. It’s hard to imagine that Christie would have better odds by waiting his turn and competing in a larger field seven years from now. For more reasons than one, Christie’s 2024 slogan should be “Go Big or Go Home!” Christie seems to understand this. “I’m also not going to be one of these people who’s going to say, ‘Well, I’ll wait to see what President Trump’s going to do.’ I’m not going to defer to anyone if I decide that’s what I want to do and that I think I’m the best option for the party and for the country,” Christie said on a podcast last month. “I think if you say you’re deferring to someone, that’s a sign of both weakness and indecision, and we’ve already got that in the White House.”