“It’s clear to me tonight, that there isn’t a path for me to win the nomination, which is why I’m suspending my campaign tonight,” Christie said at a town hall in New Hampshire on Wednesday.

Before his event, Christie was caught on a hot mic disparaging other GOP candidates who will be courting his supporters. His statements threatened to undermine any effort to shift his support behind one of the other challengers to Trump’s frontrunner campaign.

Christie criticized former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, saying “she’s going to get smoked” in the primary race and noting the amount of money she had poured into the race. “She’s not up to this,” Christie said.

He added that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called him, sounding “petrified” shortly before the feed was cut.

Christie’s exit still potentially boosts the candidacies of Haley and DeSantis who have emerged as the main alternatives to frontrunner Trump. The pair, scheduled to square off in a debate on CNN later Wednesday evening, have focused their attacks on each other as they duel for the runner-up mantle — or even an upset — in Iowa. A strong showing there could open a lane for one of them to mount a serious challenge to the former president.

Christie faced pressure in recent days to end his bid with his campaign polling in the low single digits nationally.  He entered the Republican primary contest as the most stridently anti-Trump candidate in the field.

Haley in a statement called Christie “a friend for many years” and said she would work to win over his supporters.

“Voters have a clear choice in this election: the chaos and drama of the past or a new generation of conservative leadership. I will fight to earn every vote, so together we can build a strong and proud America,” she said.

Christie on Wednesday said defeating Trump was “more important than my personal ambition.”

Both Trump and DeSantis, though, seized on Christie’s hot mic gaffe, noting the former governor’s criticism of Haley.

“I hear Chris Christie is dropping out of the race today — I might even get to like him again! Anyway, he was just caught on a hot mic making a very truthful statement,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.

DeSantis said he agreed with the former New Jersey governor’s assessment of Haley.

“I agree with Christie that Nikki Haley is ‘going to get smoked,’” DeSantis wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

Iowa Caucus

The Iowa Republican caucus is scheduled for Jan. 15, kicking off the party’s nominating contest. While Christie polled poorly in Iowa, surveys showed him relatively more competitive in New Hampshire.

By that measure his exit could potentially most help Haley’s ascendant campaign. Polls show Trump with a wide lead in Iowa, but a CNN survey released Tuesday showed the ex-president leading Haley by just seven-percentage points in New Hampshire, which is set to hold its primary on Jan. 23. That CNN poll showed Christie polling in third place behind Trump and Haley. DeSantis was in fifth place.

Haley has focused her campaign resources. Haley has soared in GOP polls in recent weeks and is now virtually tied in national polls with DeSantis for second place behind Trump. Her rise has drawn new support, including among Wall Street executives eager to avoid a Trump rematch against President Joe Biden.

Christie criticized the pressure other candidates applied for him to drop out, saying it showed the “smallness” of their campaigns, and that they had spent “more time arguing and worrying about who should get out of the race than they have spent going after the frontrunner.”

Christie’s exit was first reported by Wide World of News.

Ally-Turned-Rival

Christie led Trump’s 2016 presidential transition team but broke with him shortly after the 2020 election when he refused to concede to President Joe Biden.

Still, his campaign struggled to stand out from the pack, as Trump has opened up an ever-wider lead nationally and in early voting states.

Christie leaves the race with under 4% support in the polls, for fifth place, according to the RealClearPolitics average of national GOP polls. A two-term governor whose tenure was marked by multiple controversies, he is known for a brash rhetorical style that his team hoped would help him stand out in the primary debates. But Christie never got the chance to challenge Trump face-to-face because the former president refused to participate in the forums.

At the first debate in August, in one of Christie’s most memorable moments, the candidates on stage were asked if they would support Trump as nominee if he were convicted of a felony. Most raised their hands but Christie and former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson held back.

“Someone’s got to stop normalizing this conduct,” Christie said. “Whether or not you believe the criminal charges are right or wrong, the conduct is beneath the office of the president of the United States.”