Why Chris Christie’s 'reputation is on the rise' among 'liberal pundits': columnist

19 June 2023

When attorney George Conway, The Lincoln Project's Rick Wilson, MSNBC's Joe Scarborough and Bulwark writers like Tim Miller and Charlie Sykes were offering scathing condemnation of former President Donald Trump, Christie was still an ally.

But of all the Republicans who are running against Trump in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, Christie is, by far, the most forceful in his attacks on the ex-president. Those attacks, journalist David A. Graham notes in an article published by The Atlantic on June 19, have not gone unnoticed by liberals.

"Chris Christie is the hottest candidate in the Republican presidential race right now," Graham explains. "Oh, not with Republican voters. He's still polling in the low single digits among the people who will actually choose the nominee. But among liberal pundits, Christie's reputation is on the rise."

Graham cites Slate's Jim Newell, the Los Angeles Times' Robin Abcarian and the New York Times' Michelle Goldberg as examples of media figures who have enjoyed Christie's attacks on Trump. Goldberg, however, acknowledged, "My enjoyment of his newfound Resistance shtick doesn’t bode well for Christie. The people he needs to win over are not liberal New York Times columnists, but voters who hate liberal New York Times columnists."

Trump, according to polls, remains the frontrunner in the GOP 2024 presidential primary. A Harvard/Harris poll released in mid-June found Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis trailing Trump by 45 percent among primary voters.

Graham writes, "Yet even with the self-awareness, many of these rosy impressions of Christie stem from a questionable vision of how to beat Trump. Christie’s appeal relates to an Aaron Sorkin–style theory of politics, in which the way to defeat Trump is to get onstage with him in a debate and say just the right thing — that with a verbal slap that is clever and cutting enough, Trump will deflate. Soaring music rises, the credits roll, and everyone returns happy to a pre-2016 world. Christie seems to subscribe to this theory himself, telling anyone who will listen — reporters, mostly — that he is the only person who can beat Trump."

The Atlantic's full article is available at this link (subscription required).

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