“He Cannot Sell It”: Chris Christie Weighs in On Biden’s Reelection Chances

Chris Christie – a moderate Republican who has made a name for himself for being vehemently anti-Trump in an increasingly divided Conservative political landscape – has made no secret of his lack of love for President Bident. Throughout his ultimately doomed presidential campaign, he made clear that he was running for president not only to provide competition for Trump, but because he genuinely believes that Biden is not the right man for the job.

Chris Christie: A Moderate Republican

Chris Christie is the former governor of New Jersey, a traditionally very liberal state. He had an exceptionally high approval rating from constituents of all political leanings during his time heading the state, and won reelection in a sweeping victory of more than 60%.

His experience led Christie to announce that he was running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2023. During the entirety of his campaign, he ran an aggressive campaign where he spent the majority of his time doing one of two things: pointing out the fallacies of Biden’s presidency, and aggressively criticizing one of his competitors, Donald Trump.

Getting Back to Basics

Christie’s entire campaign was meant, in his words, as a way to draw Americans back to the center of the aisle. He sold himself as a moderate Republican candidate in a time where politics is becoming increasingly divided, even among members of the same political party.

His message was admirable, and seemed to strike a chord with quite a few moderate Republicans. He made it into multiple debates with his fellow Republican candidates for president, though he never polled much higher than 6% nationally. He spent the majority of the debates that he participated in criticizing Trump, and calling out his fellow candidates who refused to do so.

Christie Dropped Out

Unfortunately, the Christie campaign was never meant to be, and he dropped out of the presidential race in January of 2024. That doesn’t mean that he’s stepped away from the national stage, though. He’s continued to speak critically about Nikki Haley, Donald Trump, and Ron Desantis in turn, pointing out their faults as potential presidents of the United States.

That doesn’t mean that he’s moved all the way to the left, though, as some conservative pundits have stated. Christie has been equally vocal in his criticism of Joe Biden, who he claims to be one of the “worst” presidents that he’s seen in recent history.

An Argument on The View

Some of this criticism recently brought Christie to an argument on national television. In an appearance on The View, Christie got into it with co-host Joy Behar over the chances of Joe Biden getting reelected to the highest office in the nation.

Christie didn’t state outright that Biden was a terrible politician with bad policies, like some other conservative politicians and personalities have said. Instead, he acknowledged that in the past, Biden was an effective politician, but that simply wasn’t the case anymore.

Reasons Why Biden is Doing Well

Behar countered Christie’s argument, listing the reasons that she believed that Biden should still be seen as a strong contender for president. She pointed out that the economy and jobs reports both continue to shock both average Americans and economists, and that the stock market is at an all-time high.

She also pointed out Biden policies that have deeply affected people’s lives for the better, including lowering the cost of insulin for seniors and expanding healthcare benefits for those on public programs. She also pointed out that Biden has been working tirelessly on student loan debt relief, and that he has successfully relieved many of the burden of their student loan debt.

What is the Actual Problem With His Age?

Behar then asked Christie what the actual problem is with his age, since many Republicans have cited that as the main issue with his candidacy. She pointed out that she herself is 81, and asked him to support his case that age meant that Biden was not a good candidate.

Christie responded kindly, but firmly. He pointed out that Biden’s approval rating is very low for where it should be at this point in his presidency, and explained that his criticism of Biden has very little to do with his policies and more with his public persona and personality.

“Biden Can’t Sell It”

Christie stated bluntly that he didn’t have a problem with any of the policies that Behar stated, which were “objectively true.” He clarified, “He (Biden) can’t sell it. He’s not selling it, and he can’t sell it.”

He then further explained that he had known Joe Biden for a long time, and that it wasn’t that Biden wasn’t an effective politician once. He was. But as he’s aged, he isn’t an effective politician anymore, and he isn’t effective at selling himself or his candidacy or his policies.

Public Perception is Everything

Christie closed out his argument stating that more than anything, Biden suffers from a public perception issue. “People look at him and they say, ‘Is he really up to it? Can he really do it?'” Christie then stated that not only can he not do it now, during his current presidency, but he shouldn’t be getting another four year contract to take his presidency into his late eighties.

Many of the talking points that Christie cited have been used by conservative politicians for the weeks and months that Biden has both been running the country, and running for reelection. It’s a talking point that seemed to be doing well for them ahead of the 2024 election, though it only seems to be working with a certain subset of Americans.

All Will Be Told At the Ballot

As far as Biden’s reelection chances, it’s essentially locked in that he will be the Democratic nominee for president. There have been others running for the nomination against him, but none of them have managed to gather any electoral votes during the primary season thus far.

Given that the incumbent president often has a boost in a reelection year, regardless of what the polls are saying, Christie’s comments about Biden are little more than speculation. While there are some Americans who see Biden’s age as a burden on the Oval Office, there are many who see his experience as a significant benefit, and all will eventually be told in November of this year.