Christie down! NJ governor drops out of presidential race as Twitter reacts
Disappointed by the returns from New Hampshire, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is dropping out of the race for the GOP presidential nomination, the Associated Press reported. Much of the US social media cheered at the news.
According to Christie's campaign, the governor has ended his bid, the AP stated.
Christie announced Tuesday night he would go back to New Jersey and "take a deep breath," instead of heading to South Carolina, the next primary state.
Though Christie's campaign maintains that "no decision has been made" to suspend the bid, political journalists have understood the retreat as a clear signal his campaign was finished.
Chris Christie to Formally End Presidential Bid as Early as Today https://t.co/7d9ZLsURu6#nevergonbepresidentnowpic.twitter.com/r1p1wPtB4E
— Dr. Bitley Gilbert (@soundslikeshay) February 10, 2016
Breaking: Chris Christie returns to Jersey! #Election2016pic.twitter.com/cMXPUZ4AEo
— Joe (@jcorrado19) February 10, 2016
Observers immediately pointed to Christie's attack on Florida Senator Marco Rubio, one of the establishment candidates, during the last GOP debate, with some describing it as a "political murder-suicide" benefiting Donald Trump.
Charlie's description of Christie grabbing the upstart Rubio and suiciding off a cliff with him is hilarious. https://t.co/QJuSetRkCt
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) February 10, 2016
Chris Christie walking away after throwing himself on a grenade & saving the US from Rubio. pic.twitter.com/dTIYzf3tO0
— Jerry Saltz (@jerrysaltz) February 10, 2016
Most of the reactions on Twitter, however, poked fun at the governor for his weight.
The Christie zeppelin is down! https://t.co/vAuR2Z0chAhttps://t.co/MKomxtUCtP
— Justin Raimondo (@JustinRaimondo) February 10, 2016
New Jersey's Golden Corrals welcome back Chris Christie.
— The Fake CNN (@TheFakeCNN) February 10, 2016
Whaaat? Chris Christie fell of the wagon and went deep into a baker's dozen of Krispy Kreme's bacon/custard doughnuts? How many survived?
— 99ermikeb (@99ermikeb) February 10, 2016
One Trump partisan pointed to Christie's friendly relations with President Barack Obama as the cause of his unpopularity with the GOP voter base.
Christie Is Dead. He Just Does Not Know It. pic.twitter.com/PYl4kXmZIt
— J (@JLovesTrump) February 10, 2016
Others played up references to Christie's previous missteps, such as the 2013 affair involving the closure of a bridge to New York City, blamed on a vindictive aide.
So is it fair to say that Chris Christie's campaign was a bridge too far?
— Pamela Schrenk (@pjschrenk) February 10, 2016
... or Christie's unpopular policies in New Jersey.
I'm really happy for Christie. Now he can go back to doing what he is best at, berating teachers for having opinions about schools.
— Will Cubbison (@wccubbison) February 10, 2016
Like Scott Walker, Chris Christie will turn his attention back to ruining just his own state instead of the whole country.
— Beau Boughamer (@Beau1u) February 10, 2016
One Rubio backer said she was sad to see Christie go, linking a video of his baseball hijinks.
Sad to see Christie out. He puts on for his city/America https://t.co/gIKhAc170E
— Amanda Peterson (@a__pet) February 10, 2016
