Former NJ Gov. Chris Christie joins 2024 presidential race after campaigning against Trump

Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor who has branded himself as the only Republican willing and able to take down former President Donald Trump, will enter the 2024 presidential race next week, according to reports.

He has been expected to join the race and will formally make the announcement at 6:30 p.m. next Tuesday during a town hall at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire. The announcement was first reported by Axios and then confirmed by CNN.

Christie joins a growing field of GOP presidential candidates, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, South Carolina congressman Rep. Tim Scott, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley and former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson. Former Vice President Mike Pence is another strong contender but has not yet entered the race. And, of course, there's former president Trump.

The former New Jersey governor has sought to set himself apart from other candidates by taking Trump to task. He's criticized other Republican challengers for steering clear of any Trump flak by likening the former president to Lord Voldemort, the Harry Potter series villain whose name is rarely spoken out of fear.

Christie backed Trump in 2016 and 2020, but reached his breaking point on election night in 2020 when the former president stood behind the presidential seal and falsely claimed the election was stolen.

"When you put yourself ahead of our democracy as president of the United States, it's over," Christie said at the time.

Since then, Christie has made it a favorite pastime to bash Trump in interviews and on social media, most recently calling Trump's "bravado" over his indictment in a New York hush money case "baloney" and deeming him "Putin's Puppet" after the former president claimed at a CNN town hall that he could end Russia's war in Ukraine in less than 24 hours.

Christie unsuccessfully ran for president in 2016, dropping out after he placed sixth in the New Hampshire primary. During that campaign, Christie leaned on his background as a federal prosecutor and executive experience as governor, arguing that governors make better presidents than businessmen, like Trump, or senators, like then-candidates Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz.

Christie enters the race far behind other candidates in the polls, seeing no more than 3% of support in any national poll of Republican voters to date. Despite that, some prominent Republicans have already indicated they'll back his campaign; hedge fund founder Anthony Scaramucci told Semafor he would back Christie in the GOP presidential primary and he expects billionaire Steve Cohen will, too.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chris Christie is running for president in 2024, will take on Trump