New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has endorsed Donald Trump’s bid to be the Republican nominee for US president. Analysts have called his backing a game-changer ahead of “Super Tuesday” primaries in a dozen states.
Throwing his weight behind the Republican frontrunner, Gov. Chris Christie said he wanted to endorse the person who had the best chance of beating Democrat candidate frontrunner Hillary Clinton in the US presidential election on November 8, DPA reported.
“There is no one who is better prepared to provide America with the strong leadership that it needs both at home and around the world than Donald Trump,” said Christie, speaking alongside Trump at a campaign rally in Fort Worth, Texas.
By backing Trump, Christie became first major party figure and someone considered a moderate Republican to endorse the real-estate magnate.
Analysts said the New Jersey governor’s support for Trump, whose brash, provocative style of politics has turned the Republican race—and American politics—upside down, marked a potential turning point in the campaign.
Christie said billionaire Trump would fight the Washington establishment and the failures of both the Republicans and Democrats.
In return, Trump said Christie’s backing was one endorsement that he wanted to get in the race for the White House.
Christie pulled out of the White House race two weeks ago, after a dismal showing in the nomination contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, where he finished 10th and sixth, respectively.
Trump, who has never held political office, has run a controversial campaign described by some as xenophobic, singling out immigrants from Mexico for censure, while proposing an all-out ban on Muslims entering the United States.
His contentious comments have won him the support of many conservative Americans but have also been widely lambasted. As the leading Republican candidate, he has won three straight contests in New Hampshire, South Caroline and Nevada.
