In its latest attempt to push President Joe Biden over the finish line in 2024, Good Morning America’s George Stephanopoulos attempted to pressure former Republican presidential candidate and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie into supporting Biden’s reelection. Christie was invited on the show to discuss his new book about Ronald Reagan, but towards the end was strategically asked about his current advocacy against Donald Trump as a 2024 candidate.
Stephanopoulos first asked Christie who he would be voting for instead of Trump, to which Christie responded that even though there wouldn’t be anyone else on the ballot, he still wouldn’t vote for Trump “under any circumstances.”
The GMA host then tried to corner Christie by arguing that any vote not for Biden was automatically in favor of Trump. While Christie tried to respond that the technicalities did not matter, Stephanopoulos interrupted saying he thought that it was “pretty clear” that anyone not voting for Biden was supporting Trump.
Though Christie did not concede to the host’s point, and instead brought up alternatives such as the No Labels organization, Stephanopoulos again interjected that a third-party group like No Labels would “drain more from Joe Biden than Donald Trump.”
These arguments dealt in slight interruptions, attempted to corner Christie into agreeing that in order to be against Trump, as he claimed he was, Christie only had one real choice: to vote for Biden. Christie responded with a quip that since he lived in New Jersey, his vote “is not gonna matter a lick.”
In addition to waiving off the third party as indirectly pro-Trump, Stephanopoulos also seemed to nervously query, asking in so many ways if Christie had put his name on the ballot, if he had been nominated by No Labels, or if he had “closed the door” to reinserting himself into the election.
Christie pushed the suggestion away from himself but ultimately supported any third-party option that could get 270 electoral votes. “You know, this is, if there’s ever a time, in our lifetime, when a third party candidate could make a difference, I think it's now,” Christie argued.
Instead of discussing the third-party option further, Stephanopoulos turned the discussion towards how Christie might “prevent Donald Trump from becoming president in 2024.” To which Christie responded that since Joe Biden was “the only major Democrat who Donald Trump could beat,” he should be replaced on the ballot.
While the host argued that Trump was the only Republican candidate Biden could beat, Christie countered that Biden’s “sell-by-date” was past expiration.
After the discussion ended, Stephanopoulos repeated to his co-hosts that “it's almost certain that [a third party is] going to take more votes from Biden than from Trump,” once again insinuating to Americans that its only sane option would be to vote for Biden.
Good Morning America
2/6/2024
8:15:21 a.m. EST
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: So, who do you vote for in the New Jersey primary in June?
CHRIS CHRISTIE: My guess is that there won't be anybody else on the ballot to vote for. Other than Donald Trump—
STEPHANOPOULOS: So, you’ll write-in Chris Christie.
CHRISTIE: No, I would never write myself in. But, yeah, I probably would just skip that part. I mean, look, the one thing I can tell you for sure is I don't know what I'm gonna do in November, but I'm not voting for Donald Trump, under any circumstances.
STEPHANOPOULOS: But isn't any vote that's not for Joe Biden, assuming it's two of them, and a handful of third-party candidates, isn't any vote that's not for Joe Biden a vote for Donald Trump?
CHRISTIE: Well, we can get into all the technicalities and you—
STEPHANOPOULOS: No, no, I think it’s pretty clear that it’s—
CHRISTIE: You know this as well as I do. In my state, in my state, my vote is not gonna matter a lick, okay. I don't know who the full field’s gonna be yet. And, and, there might be a No Labels candidate who I might say...
STEPHANOPOULOS: But No Labels is just going to drain more from Joe Biden than Donald Trump, isn't it?
CHRISTIE: I think it depends who they nominate. It depends who they nominate. If they nominate a strong Republican, um, it might not be the case.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Have they asked you?
CHRISTIE: They have not asked me, no.
STEPHANOPOULOS: But if they did?
CHRISTIE: Oh, I don't know. There’d be a long conversation between me and Mary Pat, I can guarantee you that.
STEPHANOPOULOS: But you haven't closed the door to it?
CHRISTIE: Well what I’ve said in the past is that I'd have to see a path for anybody, not just me, but I think anybody who would accept that would need to see a path to 270. 270 electoral votes. You know, this is, if there’s ever a time, in our life time, when a third party candidate could make a difference, I think it's now. The question though is, what kind of difference?
STEPHANOPOULOS: Play out this as a strategist. If you're running the campaign now to prevent Donald Trump from becoming president in 2024, what do you do?
CHRISTIE: Replace Joe Biden. I just think Joe Biden is probably the only major Democrat who Donald Trump could beat. And I think that if President--
STEPHANOPOULOS: And Donald Trump may be the only Republican that Joe Biden can beat.
CHRISTIE: Exactly right. And, you know, I’ve known Joe Biden for 40 years. I like President Biden personally. Always have. But, you know, past the sell-by-date, it’s just time.
STEPHANOPOULOS: His argument is he did it once, he'll do it again, and the economy is improving on my watch.
CHRISTIE: He's a different guy though, George. Like, Joe Biden could sell it better in 2020 than he's able to in 2024. And that is just a product of age. And this is not me making some clinical diagnosis. I'm making a political diagnosis, that the guy isn't as good as he was four years ago.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Bottom line, do you think you'll succeed in your mission to make sure Donald Trump is not president again?
CHRISTIE: I don't know, George, but it won't be for lack of trying. I can guarantee you that.
[Cuts back to live]
STEPHANOPOULOS: So, lot of news right there. As you saw, he didn't close the door on possibly getting to a third party. But you also saw me press him because if you look at numbers, it's almost impossible for a third party to actually get into the White House. And it's almost certain that they're going to take more votes from Biden than from Trump.
ROBIN ROBERTS: It will make a difference; but we just don't know –
STEPHANOPOULOS: What the difference will be.
ROBERTS: What the difference will be.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Exactly.
